The Reckoning by me
by FutureAnimeArtist331
Summary: Chloe, Derek, Tori, and Simon escaped with Andrew to the safe house, but they're not safe yet. There are dangers to come, new powers, and some romance, jealousy, and funny moments stuck in between.
1. First night in safety

_**The Reckoning**_ By 331

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV (point of view)

_It was dark. I couldn't see anything, and the edges of my vision were blurry, not that it would matter. Suddenly I was in the middle of a forest. Simon came up behind me smiling. Then I saw a shadow come up behind him and arm came out of nowhere and sliced right through him. But instead of dying, his image just went fuzzy, like with holograms. Then he morphed into a giant skeleton with a one of those cattle skulls you find out west. He/it grabbed me and I screamed. Then Derek ran in with Tori. He transformed into a shiny black wolf with piercing green eyes, and he jumped up growling. The skeleton just swatted his arm and Derek wolf went flying onto the spiked club of another giant skeleton, instantly impaling himself. Tori starting shooting fire balls at him but it used me to block it with, and my back inflamed, causing another scream. Then my perspective switched. I was inside the skeleton, and when I moved so did it, but it was more like I was inside controlling it, not like I was actually the skeleton. Everything was tinged green, and the skeleton/me starting shooting giant green energy balls back at Tori. They exploded on impact, and she also ended up on the second skeleton's club, which I realized I could also control. Suddenly I had a whole army under my command, while I was trapped inside the first skeleton. Then the green energy turned red, and started burning. Not hot, but a cold burning, like I was being burned with ice flames. I started disintegrating, and then I was looking into a mirror. I screamed. I had turned into a skeleton, with red glowing eyes and billions of ghosts swarming around behind me. Then the mirror smashed, covering me in ice shards that felt like dropping into the ocean from fifty feet up in the dead of winter in Antarctica. Then my back began to freeze. It kept hurting and hurting and I was screaming and screaming and thrashing and screaming and it wouldn't stop and ~~~~. _I woke up.

**Chloe get a hold of yourself,** I thought. **It's not real it's not real it's not real it's not real.**

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I was in a tangled mess on the floor, wrapped in sheets and a flannel blanket. My head and back throbbed and I was cold. I stood up and shivered. The window was open, of course. I closed it and put the blankets back on the bed. I was at the safe house. Tori was snoring on the other side of the room. I looked at the digital clock nearby. It said 2:30am.

**Great,** I thought. **I guess I'll just go watch some TV.** I grabbed a sweatshirt from the pile of used clothes that had been generously given to us by the other residents of the safe house, and made my out into the hallway. We had arrived at the safe house last night after narrowly escaping the Edison Group, and then Andrew showed us to our rooms, gave us some clothes to borrow, and then we went to sleep. I made my way downstairs. I went into a living room, in which were Simon and some other guy I didn't know, and a flat screen TV playing Dirty Jobs on the discovery channel. Simon looked up as I walked in.

"Hey Chloe! What are you doing up?" The other guy looked over. He was tan with dark brown hair and blue eyes, and had an emotionless expression. I turned my gaze back to Simon.

"I fell out of bed. Why are you out here? And watching reruns? At least turn on a movie or something." I sat down next to him.

"Hey, Dirty Jobs is a good show, regardless if it's reruns. And besides, I don't know where any of the movies are. Why don't you ask Caleb? Oh wait you haven't met him yet. Chloe, Caleb, Caleb, Chloe." He pointed to the kid on the other couch.

"Yo," he said.

"Hi" I said. Simon moved over and let me sit down next to him.

"You didn't answer my first question. Why are you up?"

"Well, I couldn't sleep, so I decided to come down and raid the kitchen, and while I was in there I met Caleb. We talked and then ended up coming in here with our snacks." I spied the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table and grabbed a handful.

"Hey Caleb, what's your power?" He looked over at me and then to Simon, as if to say 'You tell her'.

"He's a sorcerer, like me, except he was genetically modified too, but instead his powers got stronger. And he accidentally got telepathic powers."

"So he can read minds?"

"Basically, yeah. He can also make stuff levitate without using his sorcery powers. He's on the run from the Edison Group too, so that's why he's here." We watched the show for a little while in silence. Then Simon put his hand on mine and smiled at me. It made me uneasy. I still didn't know how I felt about this, and recently he's been doing more stuff like that. I felt my face turn red, but I hoped it was too dark in there to see, because it was just the TV making the light. Luckily the popcorn was gone by then, so I made my escape.

"Hey, I'm gonna go get some more snacks," I started to get up.

"I'll come with you," he started to get up too. I panicked.

"No! I mean, that's okay. I'll be really quick and come back fast. Besides, I think I'm gonna go to the bathroom too." I backed out really quickly. He looked confused and sat back down. I glanced at Caleb and I saw he was laughing, which made me mad. I turned around really fast and ran down the hallway towards what I hoped was the kitchen. I had almost made it when I tripped. Right before I hit the floor, I felt hands grab my waist. I shrieked and thrashed, and I landed on the floor with an 'oomph'. Then something really heavy fell on top of me. I kicked.

"OW! Damn it, Chloe, why did you kick me? That hurt." I froze.

"Derek! What are you doing on top of me?"

"I wouldn't be on top of you if hadn't spazzed out and kicked me in the stomach!"

"Well, I wouldn't have spazzed out if you hadn't grabbed me!"

"And I wouldn't have had to grab you if you had learned how to walk correctly!"

"Get off me already!" He stood up and brushed himself off, then offered me his hand. I ignored it and got up by myself. He dropped his hand and walked into the kitchen grumpily. I followed.

"Why did you do that?" He turned around and glared at me.

"Well I assumed that you didn't want to fall your face, so I caught you. The rest occurred because of your own actions." I frowned.

"You could have at least told me you were there. You totally freaked me out. And being under you, I could have suffocated."

"And if you had kicked a little higher and harder, you would've broken my rib, which could have punctured my heart or lungs and killed me." We glared at each other for a full minute. Then I stopped and looked at my feet.

"I'm sorry I kicked you." He walked over to a cupboard.

"And I'm sorry I freaked you out and fell on you," he said. I looked into a different cupboard and found a box of pop tarts. He had found some chips and was already half way through the second bag. I sat down at the table and opened a pack. I nibbled on a corner while he sat down across from me and opened his third bag. They were only the medium sized bags though, so it wasn't as weird to see him go through them that fast.

"So why were you up?" I asked. He put down his chips for a second.

"You freaking out at Simon woke me up. Then I got hungry so I came down for some food."

"I did not freak out at Simon."

"You practically yelled at him to not come with you."

"I was not that loud, and I did not freak out at him." He gave me a look.

"Okay, so maybe I panicked, but it was not that loud. It was only loud to you because of your bionic hearing." He chuckled and went back to eating chips.

"What?" I said.

"You were loud enough to wake up Tori,"

"Was not, not even a bulldozer is enough to wake her up."

"I didn't know we had a bulldozer, but apparently Tori thinks there's one, cuz' she's up."

"Where is she now?" I said, glancing at the door leading to the hallway with the stairs.

"She was in the bathroom, but she went back to bed."

"Well, maybe I didn't wake her up, maybe she just needed to go pee."

"But when she woke up she said 'Stupid Chloe,' and then started to come downstairs, but turned and went back to the bathroom. So you obviously woke her up."

"Damn you." He chuckled.

"So why did you get up?" he asked. I squirmed remembering my dream. I hoped he didn't notice.

"I couldn't sleep."

"Why not?" He noticed.

I was debating over whether or not to tell him about my dream, when Simon walked in.

"Hey Derek, I didn't know you were up. Was all the screeching in the hall earlier you guys?" he asked. I nodded.

"I tripped."

"Ah," he said, understandingly.

"So I see you got your food." He grabbed the box of pop tarts and pulled out a pack. Derek continued eating his chips.

"So did you guys see any of the other residents yet?"

"It's like 3:00 in the morning, you were lucky to have met Caleb at all, let alone anyone else."

"Who's Caleb?" Derek said.

"He's one of the other people living here. He's a sorcerer, like Simon. He's in the other room watching TV." We sat and munched on our food. Then Caleb walked in. He nodded at us, went over to the fridge, took out a carton of milk, then walked out, and we heard him go upstairs. Simon started to get up.

"I think I'm gonna follow Caleb's example and go to bed." He grabbed another pack of pop tarts.

"Good night," he said, and winked at me. Then he walked out after Caleb.

"Wanna go watch some TV?" I said. Derek nodded and we walked into the living room. Derek sat on one couch and I sat on the other, and we switched the channel to mtv. Eventually I migrated over to Derek's couch cuz' we were both cold and there was only one blanket. Derek let me lay across most of the couch while he sat at one end. I started to doze, and I vaguely felt him turn me around so I had my head in his lap. After that I fell into ad thankfully dreamless sleep.

Okay, so this is my first fanfic, and I really hope you people like it I stayed up all night last night writing and finally finished tonight. So please Review! And if anyone has any ideas as to who else lives in the safe house, I would really appreciate if you put them in the reviews too. I want to add some funny characters and some competition for Derek and Simon (even though we all know Derek's gonna win, but who doesn't love jealous angry boys with superpowers?). Review!


	2. Meeting the others

_**The Reckoning**_ By 331

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV

When I woke up, Derek wasn't there. I shook my head awake, and looked around. I was still in the living room, and some other girl was sitting on the other couch watching some movie, which I later found out was Shaun of the Dead. I love that movie. Its a hilarious zombie movie, even with all the language and stuff (it's rated R). But it was really sad when he had to shoot his mom when she got infected by the zombies. The other girl was at the part when Shaun and Ed are deciding which records to throw at Mary the 1st zombie and the 2nd unnamed zombie who attacked them through a window.

I felt dizzy, so I laid back down and dozed for a few minutes. When I woke up there was another person right there. I freaked.

"Hi!" I jumped and fell back against the couch. Then I waved meekly. The girl smiled. She had red curls and freckles, and hazel eyes, and had her curls up in pigtails. She was wearing a hot pink t shirt and a purple and white polka dotted skirt with bright blue suspenders and pink and white striped tights. She was leaning in really close and was kinds creeping me out.

"My name's Angie, what's yours?" She seemed overly energetic. I was having a dumbstruck moment so I just stared.

"You don't say much, do ya? Are ya dumb? Are you disabled? Or just shy? I'm 14, by the way and I'm an air half demon. I'm awesome at gymnastics and cheer leading and anything to do with jumping and love funny movies like this. Do you like funny movies? I like them a lot, cuz' when I laugh I'm happy and when I'm happy I feel energized and ready bounce off the wall like I'm crazy and I..."

She kept going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and-.

"STOP!" She stopped.

"What?" she said.

"Breathe once and a while! And SLOW DOWN. Then at least I'll know what you're saying."

"Oh sorry, I guess I got carried away. When I get excited it just sorta happens. So what's your name?"

"Chloe," came from behind me. I turned and saw Derek at the door. He was trying not to laugh.

"Hey Derek. Where'd you go? You were here when I fell asleep, and when I woke up you were gone."

"Do you know what time it is? Its like 10:30am and I don't pass up food when its given."

I thought it was really pointless to ask what time it is when you already know, but I didn't say anything. Just then my stomach growled. Derek laughed, and walked out.

"Leftover's are in the kitchen," he called over his shoulder.

"So your name's Chloe?" I turned back to Angie.

"Yeah, and I'm a necromancer,"

"Really? That's so cool! Raising the dead and stuff is awesome, but I heard it takes a lot of power to do that. So I'm guessing that you haven't, have ya?"

"I did it twice while unconscious, once consciously by accident, and once on purpose."

Her eyes went wide.

"OMG!THAT'S AWESOME! CAN I SEE?"

"Um, I really don't think I should. I think I'm just gonna go eat breakfast." I got up to go.

"Well okay! Maybe some other time!Bye!" and she went back to watching her movie.

When I got to the kitchen, Simon, Tori, Caleb, and Derek were already there. They were eating bacon and waffles, which I thought was a weird combination but liked just the same. I grabbed a plate and sat down. Simon smiled at me, and Tori gagged.

"Why don't you just get it over with and make out? At least then I could steal your bacon." We all stared at her.

"Why do you have to ruin everything, Tori? Why can't you just keep your mouth shut?" Simon glared at her.

"Well maybe its because when I'm trying to eat, I'd rather not have to throw up in my mouth,"

"Go to hell Tori," Derek grunted.

"I'm already here," she said, and got up and left.

"Bitch!" Simon called after her.

"I'd rather be one then be born from one!" she called back. Simon turned red and ran after her. I could have sworn I saw steam come out his ears.

"You take that back!" That was the last thing we heard before the crash and multiple cries of pain. Simon rushed back in holding his face.

"She threw a chair at me!"

"After you said I was just like my mother, bitching and psycho! Don't you ever say that I'm anything like my mother again or that will be the last thing you ever do!" And with that she stormed out.

"Ouch," came from Caleb's direction. Simon went to the bathroom to nurse his wounds, while Derek and I continued to eat. Caleb left for the living room.

"So have you seen any other new people yet?"

"Not yet, but I did see Andrew. He told me the house is really big, so that means there's probably another kitchen in another part of the house, and that's probably where everyone else is." I nodded and continued to eat. We finished at the same time, but I dropped my fork. When I bent down to get it, it was already gone.

"Looking for this? I'll just put it over here." Derek took my plate too and put it by the sink.

"Thanks," I said. He shrugged. We stood there awkwardly for a moment.

"So, uh, what do you want to do now?" Derek said, I shrugged.

"I guess we could go look for that other kitchen," I said. Derek nodded, and we headed for the door. I tripped again. His sturdy hands wrapped around my waist and stopped my plummet. I didn't freak out this time. Instead, I turned to look at him.

"Th-thanks," I said. Stupid stutter. He was looking down at me. His eyes were a nice shade of emerald, and they sort of sparkled. His face had gotten better too. Much less acne. I felt my face get hot. I stared up at him, and I felt that weird, unknown feeling, the could be good or bad feeling that I just wasn't sure of. But then I coughed, and Derek seemed to wake up, at least partially.

"Y-your w-wel-, I mean"-gulp-"your welcome," he said. I gaped. Derek. Stuttered. DEREK STUTTERED. DEREK. DEREK SOUZA. My mind started racing, I felt really dizzy. I put my hand against the wall and stood up. Derek backed up to the table and looked at his feet. I was panting. We stood like that for a minute.

"We should probably go find that other kitchen," I panted. Derek nodded without looking up, and went ahead of me into the hallway. We were about to go into the room across from the living room, when Andrew walked up.

"There you are!" he said.

"Everyone else is waiting in the kitchen on the other side the house. C'mon, I lead you there." We nodded and followed. I felt queasy. What was that? I shook my head and concentrated on putting on a smile for meeting and greeting people.

Andrew led us through and assortment of rooms. We passed a workout room, a library, what looked like a nurses office, a room entirely full of different sized trampolines, an indoor pool, a bowling alley, a home theater, (I was ecstatic), a mini night club, and a locker room for sports and stuff .Andrew told us that in the basement there was an entire arcade, upstairs was just bedrooms, and outside there were all sorts of sports related fields. There was also an office/work area for the adults to do their at-home jobs, a whole room devoted to bouncy houses (which was kinda weird, since they already had a room full of trampolines), and a couple lounge rooms with TVs thrown in here and there.

"What are you guys, billionaires!" I said. Andrew chuckled.

"No, if we were billionaires we'd have an amusement park. And unfortunately, we don't. We're just funded by one of the more, 'well-off' supernaturals." When we got to the other kitchen, it was a lot bigger than the one we had. It had all sorts of new stainless steel appliances, and like six refrigerators. There was also a large pantry and meat locker.

Everyone else was sitting at a big table across the room. Andrew led us over and had us sit down next to Simon and Caleb. Tori was at the other end of the table talking to some girl I hadn't met yet.

"Okay, lets get started," Andrew said.

"Who wants to go first? Oh, okay lets have the kids start us off. Angie, would you please go first?" the girl I had met earlier jump up and smiled.

"Okay! I'm Angie, I'm 14, and I'm an air half demon! I love sports and shopping and funny movies and hide seek with fun people! Oh and trampolines and bouncy houses!"

Now I knew why both rooms existed. The blonde kid next to her got up. He had blue eyes and a cocky smile, and he was wearing a t shirt and some jeans.

"I'm Joey, I'm 15, and I'm a Seergion (see-er-jee-on) half demon, which means I can control living things. I can pretty much posses them, but I won't actually be in their body. But I can make them do whatever I want, and if I try hard enough I can even make them say whatever I want. And I can do it with animals to, except the talking part. I like sports, competition, funny people blowing up or doing stupid stunts, left for dead (1 and 2), call of duty, and world of warcraft. I also don't mind eating contests, but I'm allergic to seafood, so no lobster or shellfish or anything."

He sat down, and the next person looked way younger. Well, the next two people. They spoke at the same time.

"We're Sadie and Petra, and we're 7 year old twins. We're both water half demons. We like fun stuff, the colors blue pink, purple, and green, and anything we can make. Cause we love art. Yay! We're done!" and they sat down together. The next person was way older. And Australian. She had red brown hair and brown eyes, and was wearing, a tan shirt, a bluey-purple vest, tight jeans and boots that matched her hair.

"I'm Lacie, I'm 19, and I'm a witch. I like shopping with Angie, playing the guitar, and singing, and I also like trampolines." she had a cool accent, kinda like British but not. That's what makes it Australian. I love how those people say water bottle. They kinda skip over the T's to make it sound kinda like "wha'er boh'ul". And then add a little british-ish accent and your saying water bottle like and Australian. Or was that British? Anyway, t sounds so cool and is fun to say.

Caleb was next. He was wearing a navy t shirt and jeans.

"I'm Caleb, I'm 17, I'm a telepathic sorcerer. I like video games, drums and TV."

He sat down quick. The girl next Tori got up after him. She had blonde hair and brown eyes. She had on a gray and red abercrombie shirt, what I assumed was abercrombie jeans, and brown ankle boots.

"I'm Sarah, I'm 15, and I'm a shaman. I like shopping, swimming, and texting."

She sat down and she and Tori started whispering again. The next guy stood up. He had short black hair and and green eyes, but a different green than Derek. He looked Indian (the kind from India, no the native American kind), and was wearing yellow pants, a gray shirt with a black print, and a black and yellow scarf. And some gray converse sneakers.

"I'm Damien, I'm 18, I'm a necromancer, and I'm gay. I love Legend of Zelda, Okami, and Kingdom Hearts, and I also love anime. I can draw them really well too. I also like shopping." He fluffed his scarf and sat down. The last guy to get up was tall and muscular. I saw Derek stiffen so I knew it was a werewolf. He had light brown hair, and blue eyes, and was wearing a t shirt and jeans.

"I'm Shane, I'm 16, and I'm a werewolf. I like sports, TV, and video games." He sat back down, and then Andrew gestured to the adults to start. The first adult to get up had red hair, blue eyes and glasses. He wore a collared short and some jeans.

"I'm Mike, I'm a shaman, and I'm 36. I like swimming and basketball."

The next was a woman with brown hair and hazel eyes, and wore a long brown ruffle skirt and a turquoise tight long-sleeve shirt. She looked like she could be a supermodel.

"I'm Arabelle, I'm a telepathic necromancer, and I'm 27. I like being outside, friendly competition, and yoga. And shopping."

next was a older lady with a kind face and a mom-ish pant and sweater set. She was blonde with green gray eyes.

"I'm Anna, I'm an Earth half demon, and my age doesn't matter. I love cooking and gardening and watching TV. And shopping."

"And everyone already knows I'm a sorcerer, so now we'll introduce the new kids," Andrew said, gesturing to us. Simon got up first. He was wearing a t shirt and tight jeans, and his blonde hair was messily spiked.

"I'm Simon, I'm a sorcerer, and I'm 15. I love drawing anime too and I also like video games and sports." he sat down and nudged Derek to go. He was wearing a tight tshirt which was unusual, because he usually wore baggy clothes to hide his muscles, but I guess the clothes were borrowed. He was also wearing jeans. He looked really good from where I was sitting. The tight shirt showed of his muscles perfectly and he looked considerably cu...whoa there Chloe. I pushed the thoughts from my mind. He stood up.

"Derek, 16, werewolf, like food." and he sat right back down. I got up. I was still wearing my borrowed pajamas of cami, cotton shorts, and a hoodie.

"I'm Chloe, I'm 15, and I'm a necromancer. I like movies, directing, trampolines, swimming, and not being killed by psycho genetic modifiers." I sat down and watched Tori get up. She had on a yellow t shirt from Hollister and tight jeans.

"I'm Tori, I'm 15, and I'm a witch. I like shopping, texting, and mtv." She sat back down.

"Okay, now that everyone's met, you guys have the rest of the day to get used to each other, and then tomorrow we'll figure out what we're gonna do." and with that all the grown ups left.

As soon as the last adult had vacated the area, Joey came rushing over.

"Hey babe, I like you." And then he kissed me on the lips.


	3. Freaky kissing

_**The Reckoning**_ By 331

OMG, this is so much fun to write!!!! thank you to those people who gave me my 1st reviews!!! I was updating last night when I saw them, and I freaked. Thanks so much you guys!!!! oh, and I may not always be this quick to update, cuz' right now I'm on break, but when school starts again (bleh!) I'll have to go there and not write, but I'll probably still write when I get done with all that crap I get for homework. So thanks again, peoples!!!!!(especially kikimo05, cuz' you were my 1st review ever!=:)3(:=

I hope you guys like it!!!!!!!!!

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV

WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!?!?!?! he was kissing me really hard, and I practically fell back against the chair, but then I realized leaning back while sitting side ways on a no arm rest dining chair was not smart. I shrieked muffledly (guy on my face!!) and lashed out at him and I think I hit his elbow, which jammed my fingers together making me muffle shriek all the louder. I fell back into Derek's lap and Joey ended up kissing my boobs. I heard a growl somewhere above me and then I was flying. I landed in Simon's lap behind Derek just in time to see him shove Joey into the wall. He hit head first and landed on the floor with blood coming out of a large gash across his forehead (cussing loudly the whole time). I would have been more worried about him if I hadn't just then got the aftermath of what his tongue tasted like, and I ran out of there into the bathroom and threw up in the sink(I didn't quite make it to the toilet). I heard muffled gasps and mumbled apologies from Derek and people screaming at each other. I believe I heard Shane say we probably should have put a muzzle on Joey before we let him loose. I retched again, this time making it to the toilet. Simon came in and saw me on the floor next to it.

"Are you okay?!?!" He sat down next to me and rubbed my back as I threw up again. I had a flashback from being with Derek during his changes, and suddenly felt that it should be Derek who was sitting here consoling me, not Simon. I wiped my mouth and nodded.

"I'm okay now. Wow his mouth is gross. If he kisses girls like that on a regular basis, he should know about oral hygiene." Simon laughed, and smiled at me, still rubbing my back. How he managed to do that while sitting next to a bowl of puke, I'll never know.

"What happened after I left?"

"Oh, well, Joey got up screaming at Derek for ruining his moment and gashing his head, and kicked him in the stomach, and then Derek punched him in the face and now he thinks his nose is broken. Every else was screaming at them to stop cuz' they were being idiots, and then Sarah healed his nose. She couldn't stop the blood though, so his face is now entirely red and dripping, including the fact he's also red from puffing up at Derek with his giant ego. The adults came back and separated them and made Derek apologize, and then told Joey to apologize to you without kissing you when you were done in here." I nodded thoughtfully, even though I clearly had nothing to be thoughtful about.

Simon continued to rub my back for a minute, which I successfully got through without throwing up again.

"Hey, could you go get Derek? I want to talk to him." He looked a little hurt, but then smiled. He got up to go.

"Hey Simon?" He stopped.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"No problem," he said, and left. I waited on the floor, and heard Simon calling Derek. He came in while I was examining the monogrammed towels.

"Hey," I looked up. In contrast to my imaginings of Joey covered in blood, Derek didn't have a scratch on him. He actually looked like he had just gotten off the couch from watching TV, or just finished lying in a sunny meadow, or something that doesn't take up energy or make you look bad. I had flushed the toilet to get the smell out of the room, but then I remembered the sink. Derek apparently saw it, and started washing it out.

"You don't have to--"

"I got it, you just sit there and not throw up," He grabbed the little waste basket and started scraping it out with a paper towel. Then he rinsed the sink and took the waste basket out somewhere, then came back in with vanilla scented febreeze. He sprayed some around, and then leaned up against the linen closet. We just sat for a sec while he stared at me and I stared at my feet, which is hard when all you can see is your knees in the fetal position.

" So, you, uh, wanted to talk to me?" I looked up.

"Uh, yeah, um, thanks for, uh, getting him off me earlier."

"Your welcome,"

"Is he okay?"

"Why would you care? He try to molest you!!" He snapped. I shrunk down and tried to hide behind the toilet. His look softened, and I saw something in his eyes I haven't seen there before.

"I sorry, it's just.........that was really uncalled for, and no one should just come up and kiss someone they don't even know, its just wrong, and weird and......ugh, it just really irked me." He kicked the cupboard under the sink, and I came out from behind the toilet.

Was Derek jealous?!!? Derek?!?!?!

"It's okay, I definitely didn't like it either. His mouth tasted like crap, and I should know, having my head in the toilet for the last 20 minutes." He looked like he was calming down. Weird that he was the one overreacting to something a freaky guy did to me. But then, it was Derek, and he overreacted to most things.

"Are you okay?" He grabbed my hand. I started sweating.

"Yeah, I'm fine now," I smiled, and he seemed calmer. He looked at me for a minute, then dropped my hand and left. I followed him back into the kitchen.

When I came in, everyone was staring. A small couch and a TV were in a nook next to the dining area, and that's where most of the people were. Joey was sitting by himself sulking with his forehead wrapped up. He was watching the TV from a distance. The adults were sitting at the island in the middle of the kitchen, and the twins were coloring on the floor in the middle of the room. They were dark skinned with beaded braids, and brown eyes, and were wearing pink and purple jumpers with blue tights and a green shirt underneath. Andrew had told us earlier their Dad, Mitchem, was a werewolf, and he was coming up to help. They also had two werewolf brothers, Miles and Sammy, but they in college over in Europe, so they were safe for now, because no one like or in the Edison group knew where they were staying. The rest of the people were on the couch or had brought over chairs to watch TV. I didn't know what they were watching, because I was to preoccupied with the fact that they were all staring at me. And Derek. After about to minutes of standing like an idiot, the adults came over to make sure I was okay. They had Sarah look me over just to be sure. She said I was fine and went back to watching TV. Everyone had gone back to what they were doing by then, so I walked over to Joey with Derek trailing behind me. He looked up as I walked over.

"Sorry for kissing you. I have this disorder thing that makes my impulses unnaturally strong, so I thought you were cute for one second and the next I'm on you." I softened a bit. But then Shane spoke up.

"Don't fall for that crap, he's totally fine. He just wants you to feel sorry for him."

I frowned.

"Just cause I don't have a disorder and kissed you all on my own willpower, does not make a difference. Besides, I bet she loved it,"

"I did not!!!! What do think I was doing in the bathroom!?! Putting on lip gloss?!? I was throwing up because your mouth tasted like crap!!"

"Aw, honey, you know it wasn't that bad. How bout' this. We step into the hallway right now, and you can have another go. Whatchya' say?" Derek growled and pounded his fist on the table, then glared at Joey. He shrank back but still smiling. I fake retched.

"Why not, he your boyfriend or something?"

"No!" Derek and I shouted at the same time.

"Just leave me alone!" he tried to come around to me but I slapped him. He stood there dumbstruck. And with that I stomped out, Derek right behind. We somehow ended up in a yard, and Derek punched the fence post, making the little decorative thing on top break off. It fell on his nose and he cussed, and I would've laughed if I hadn't been so mad. I sat down where I was and put my head in my hands and groaned. What the hell is wrong with that kid?!?! Like I'd actually kiss him again after that!!! I saw Derek sit down on a big rock nearby. I waited until it had seemed we had both calmed down.

"Hey, Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"Why did you throw him into the wall?"

"Why?!?! Chloe, he was molesting you!!!!!"

"Well, yeah, but you had pulled me out already. You could've just hit him or something then stopped. But Simon said you punched him. Why?"

"It.....I.....er........I was really mad, like really really mad, and he was on you, so I got you out and threw him. I didn't really think about it. It just happened." he said it quickly, like He was embarrassed or something. I nodded.

"And then he kicked you so you punched him. I could understand that. But why were you mad? Like _that_ mad. I understand I would be mad too if my friend was being molested, and scared, but you said mad like it meant something else."

He turned red and looked at me. His eyes were shiny and sparkling, and almost pleading for me not to make him say this. He finally tried.

"I.......... I was just mad, okay?"

"Oh, uh, okay." We sat there looking at our feet for a while. Then the unknown feeling started building in my stomach and I felt weird, and I ran up and kissed on the cheek.

We stood there dumbstruck, both red faced, me staring into his beautiful green eyes, for a full minute, and then my panicky feelings got the better of me and I ran back inside. I ran all the way upstairs and into my bedroom and shut the door. I leaned up against it and just breathed. Oh my God, Oh my GOD, OH MY GOD!!!!!! Ack!!!! my stupid feelings ruined everything!! I kissed him, I kissed him!!!! It wasn't a full kiss, just on the cheek but I still felt really weird and tingly inside. I slid down to a sitting position and just sat there. Breathing, ans sitting. Eventually I calmed down enough to go look out the window into the yard. Derek wasn't sitting on the rock anymore. I ran to the door to go see where he was, and when I opened it he was right there. He grabbed my waist, pulled me close and kissed me. Full on the mouth. 


	4. What? Me and Derek?

_**The Reckoning**_ By 331

You guys are great!!! So far I've had 97 visitors, and I'm practically dancing!!!! (granted at least 20 of them are me, but I'm still happy) I got bangs for the first time ever, and I look like a supermodel, so now I'm gonna try and incorporate that into the story (how, I have no idea. Maybe they go shopping and Chloe gets a whole new look so she'll blend in, and maybe Derek'll turn blonde!!!!! don't know how that would look though, so maybe just highlights, or colored streaks like Chloe). But anyway I still have enough creative juices to spice up something good for this chapter!!!!! love you guys!!!!keep reviewing!!!!!!! :P :0 :) :l =) =:P smileys r fun!!3

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV

**OH MY SHIT GOD SHUT THE HELL UP YOU DAMN FUCKING ASS BITCH!!!!!!!WE'RE KISSING!!!!!!** (apparently when you kiss and swear, your hormones get the better of you and you just shout random stuff. Besides kissing I was just concentrating on it making sense, and saying every cuss word I knew). But even so, it felt _**WONDERFUL**_. Derek's lips tasted like aunt jemima's maple syrup (or I should say, sugar syrup, but it tastes great, I could just squirt that stuff straight from the bottle into mouth, except then I wouldn't have the slim figure I have today)(of course then I just eat a big ice cream sundae, and I'm still slim after that ?!?! ?:)? ). He pull me in tighter and I put my hands around his neck. We migrated over to my bed, and somehow I ended up on top of him. My tongue had no where to go, but his was frantically searching for something. I felt it on my lip and gasped, and in went his tongue. I slowly obliged to have mine come meet it, and soon I pushed in harder, getting beautiful responses. But, eventually we had to come up for air. I fell off him and the bed, and sat on the floor panting. Derek was laying on the bed gasping for air. I put my head against one of his legs (too tall for the bed it seems) and then wrapped my arms around it to stop the room from spinning.

And we just sat. Panting. Sitting. Panting and sitting. Sitting and panting. After a while I could breath (either that or my lungs decided that 'aw, it's over, back to breathing').

"Are we gonna tell anyone?"

"No."

"Agreed."I stood up, and offered my hand to him. He took it and I helped him up. We were still holding hands when................

"Hey Chloe are you in.............here?"

….................Simon walked in. He gaped at our conjoined arms, looked at me, then Derek, then back at me, and ran out.

"Simon, wait! We----"

"Don't try. He can't hear you, and he won't listen."

"But, he didn't see anything, so that doesn't mean he knows what we were doing. All he thinks is that we were holding hands in a room, alone. For all he knows, I tripped and you were helping me up."

"Yes, but it's Simon. Any regular person would think what he thought, and include the other possibilities, but when he knows everyone knows he likes you, and sees another guy holding hands with you, regardless if it's me, he'll think what just happened did happen. Which it did."

"Yeah, but.......he doesn't......we........oh whatever. Are you gonna tell him?"

"I think the better option would be to tell him, but I won't do that unless you want him to know."

"I rather have him know and have him get over it, than have him be suspicious and then be hurt by the fact we didn't tell him but still did it."

"Smart. But your gonna be there when I do it."

"Why? Wouldn't just be easier to have a brother to brother talk?"

"Well yeah, but if he's told other people, which he might do out of stupidity of being upset, it be weird for you not to be there."

"If that happens, couldn't you tell him on your own first, then both of us could tell everyone else? I mean, that way he'll feel that we thought it was more important for him to know than the others."

"That could work, unless he did tell and we're ambushed by everyone at once." I nodded. I then realized this was the most intense conversation I'd had with Derek since we got here (intense as in intelligent, thought out, and the longest, not intense as in there's lots of tension) . It was probably because after we kissed, we weren't as unsure about the other's feelings, and not so confused with those emotions. We decided to go out and find Simon. Derek went to see if he was in their room, which he wasn't. We went downstairs together, and I peeked into the TV room. Coast was clear. We made our way through the other rooms. The only people we saw were the twins, and they were in the bouncy house room. The last place we checked was the big kitchen. I peeped around the door frame. The rest were all in there (weird, considering how big and fun this house is), including Simon. He was talking animatedly to the adults, at least that's what I could make out, because I was looking at his back.

"That bitch!"

"Don't call Simon a bitch!"

"But he's telling the _**adults**_ about it!"

"That bitch!" Derek shot into the room and yank me along, practically dragging me across the floor. Simon had turned around and he froze. It could have been one of those staring contests they have out west, right before the shooting starts when they all start twitching random parts of their face (I'm mister T, and I'm a night-elf mustache twitcher. With a Mohawk.(World of Warcraft commercial)) (but seriously, its like an 'I can twitch bigger than you' contest.'I twitched my mustache, well I twitched my hairy mole and my fuzzy eyebrows at the same time I damn shot you in the ass!!! Beat that, twitchy bitch!!!') They just glared, and glared, and glared. I could have sworn I saw daggers coming out of their eyes. Then Derek ran up and grabbed Simon and pinned him against the wall (wow, he wasn't this violent in both of the other books combined).

"Why did you tell the _**adults**_ we made out?" Simon's eye's widened and he looked really hurt.

"You.....made...out?(!)"

OH SHIT. Well, that wasn't smart. Everyone was staring, and I just wanted to shout at them 'what's wrong with you people?!!? what, do think by staring at us you'll get an instant replay!?!? Just stop already!!!!'.

"YOU MADE OUT?!?!?! everyone screamed at us. Derek let Simon down and he sunk all the way to the floor. It looked like the titanic, take two. We backed up against the wall.

"You made what?" the twins walked in.

"They didn't make anything, nothing at all. They just talked. You two can go back to the bouncy house. Right, _Derek and Chloe_?!?!" Andrew had on one of those strained, totally fake, looked like could make your lips bleed, smiles, and was now shooting eye daggers at us too. We nodded quickly and mumbled 'right' really quietly. The twins left with confused looks. Then Joey walked in.

"Hey babe, changed your mind about that second kiss?" His eyes were sparkling with hope and inflated ego headedness. After what had happened. I just cracked. I fell down laughing. Everyone was staring and silently judging me, but I just laughed. I had been molested and puking into a toilet for half an hour, but I just laughed. I had kissed Derek, and loved and freaked out about every second of it, but I just kept on psycho-ish-ly laughing. And I couldn't stop. Soon I heard everyone else laughing too. Well, except Joey, who was hopelessly confused, and Simon, who looked almost suicidal in his puddle of agony. We laughed hysterically for the next, I dunno, at least 10 minutes, and then Joey tried to kiss me again (what is wrong with that kid?!?!), but tripped and fell on his face, which erupted into another 10 minutes of random laughter. But then Simon stopped it when he ran from the room. I stared after him. I wanted to go after him, yet I didn't. Instead I laid my head in Derek's lap and closed my eyes (we had been rolling on the floor, so I had ended up on my back and Derek sitting leaning against the wall), and he started petting my hair. It felt nice, and helped me to ignore all of the annoying, confused and weird-ed out stares that were probably boring into me right then. But I kinda felt a lessening of air pressure (maybe I'm strong with the force. I bet I could be a great Jedi), so I guessed they had gone back to whatever they were doing.

"Hey, Derek?"

"Yeah?" I think he was trying to braid my hair (I didn't know he knew how to braid. Well, I did say _trying)._

"That was really stupid." I practically felt him frown.

"So? At least it was better than laughing like you had gone crazy,"

"Well yeah, but because I laughed, everything turned out okay, right?"

"Whatever. But if my way was so stupid, what's yours?"

"It's a secret."

"What? What kind of secret is that?"

"My kind. Now shut up and let it go."

"Oh, I get it."

"What'd you get?"

"What I got."

"Very funny. You understood what?"

" You have no idea what the hell you would do, do you? Chloe, I'm not that stupid. Besides, you're a horrible liar."

"I didn't lie, I just, avoided the question."

"So you admit that you have no answer?"

"No, I just won't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Just cuz'."

"Would you tell me if I...um.....kissed you again?"

"What?"

"If I kissed you, would you tell me?" I thought for a minute.

"I guess that's doable." I opened my eyes and he kissed me again. This time it wasn't as scary as the first, so I just got to enjoy the sweet, succulent taste of sugar syrup. When we stopped, I thought it had ended too soon. I closed my eyes again.

"Okay so tell me."

"I forgot."

"What?!?"

"I forgot."

"You can't do that, it's against the rules."

"Derek, when you kiss me, there are no rules." He kissed my hair. We just sat there for a moment.

"Derek?"

"Hm?"

"Are we like, dating?"

"Like how?"

"Like boyfriend and girlfriend?" He paused for a minute.

"I guess so."

"Good. But I have one condition." He stopped petting my hair.

"What is it?"

"I get to be the girl." He laughed,and then kissed me again. Short and sweet.

I think we stayed like that until lunch, and me and Derek decided to go back to the other kitchen so we wouldn't get stared at. We had an eating contest, and Derek won (no surprise (I 3 Daughtry!!)). We goofed around the rest of the day, and had another eating contest at dinner, which I came to believe was extremely unfair. We watched a movie (Transformers 2 Revenge of the Fallen!!!!!), and then I went up to bed. When I went to brush my teeth, I opened the door and found Simon, crying on the floor. He looked up at me as I came in.

"Why?!?!"

* * *

Wow, that did not come out as planned. Guess I'm more of the spur of the moment writer. Well maybe they'll go shopping next time. Keep reading and keep reviewing!!!!


	5. My dad

_**The Reckoning**_ By 331

Okay, I admit I was so excited about doing so well I got a little ahead of myself with the last chapter, so things went along to chlerek really fast. But I promise from now on I'll go slower and revert to my previous ideas (but didn't the last chapter make things interesting?!?!). Oh, and keep sending me your ideas, they'd really be helpful for what you guys want to happen (of course I'll still add my touch to them, but your opinions will really help shape the underlying base idea that I'll head towards). Keep reading and keep reviewing, and I'll keep writing!!!!

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV

I knelt down next to Simon. He turned away so I couldn't see his face. So I turned around to and leaned against his back. I felt him stiffen.

"I'm sorry," He pft-ed (that sound you make as if to say 'yeah right').

"Yeah, I'm sure you are."

"I mean it. I didn't know it would hurt you that much, and I didn't plan it either. It's not like I'd go out of my way to hurt you, and I knew you liked me, I just didn't think you were all the way to this point yet." I paused, waiting for his response. He gave none, except for the occasional sniffle. I turned around and hugged him. He just sat unmoving for a minute, but then hugged me back.

"I'm sorry I hurt you. Are you mad?"

"Not really, I guess. It just upset me that you chose Derek over me, considering how these last two weeks have gone, and I thought that you wanted me. The fact that Derek hasn't ever actually gotten close enough to someone to have a girlfriend, let alone a really, really cute one like you, and that she, well, you, picked him over me, kinda freaked me out, especially since you know that I like you. And every shred of evidence pointed to you liking me, I guess I just, didn't know what losing felt like, and cracked."

I nodded, and hugged him again. The I withdrew and looked up.

"So are you okay now?" I smiled at him, and he shrugged and smiled back.

"I guess. Just one thing. Why did you pick him?" I stopped. Why did I pick Derek? Did I love him? Did he feel right? When I looked in his eyes everything else went away, and I no longer knew how to breath. So I guess I did really like him.

"He just felt.........right," I said. He looked into my eyes, and it seemed he was searching for something. He started moving in closer, then stopped and stood up. I guess I didn't have what he was looking for.

"So we're good?"

"Well... yeah." I smiled and opened the bathroom door so he could walk out. He smiled back and waved, then went down the hall to his and Derek's room. I brushed my teeth and got ready for bed. First day,and I had already kissed two guys and got my first boyfriend. Life here will be fun.

I actually slept through the whole night for once, without waking up with a dead guy on me or being chased by deranged scientists. Or just falling off the bed. I sat up and stretched.

"Hey," I jumped and fell off the bed.

So much for waking up without problems. I looked up and saw Derek, sitting on a chair across the room from my bed.

"What the hell are you doing in here?"

"I was just waiting for you to wake up," I looked over at the clock. It said 9:30.

"You talk in your sleep you know," What?!? I felt my face turn red.

"Um, what exactly did I say?" I cringed, thinking of the possibilities.

"Do you really want to know?" I scowled.

"Alright then. You said I was hot and the love of your life. And you wanted to communicate with aliens by talking to them through nachos.

"What? I did not! That doesn't even make sense."

"Your the one who said it, I'm just repeating what I heard." Aliens and nachos? Really?

"Okay, even when I'm sleeping, I don't come up with something that stupid." He frowned with fake hurtness.

"You don't think I'm hot?"

"Ugh!!! I know your lying. Even I lie better than that. And when your going to lie, at least come up with something better than aliens and nachos, cuz' that really sucked." He chuckled and came over to help up off the floor.

"Fine, I was lying, but you seriously don't think I'm hot?" I threw a pillow at him.

"I kissed you didn't I?"

"Fair enough," I smiled and kissed him quick and gentle. Then I remembered Tori and looked over at the other bed, which was thankfully empty.

"Oh, that? She moved all her stuff into another room when she found out there were extra ones. That was about and hour ago." I nodded, happy about the new found privacy, in more ways than one.

"What's for breakfast?"

"Food,"

"That's great. But what type of food?"

"Good food," I hit him, and then grabbed some borrowed clothes headed for the bathroom. I told him to go down without me because I had decided to take my shower while he was being a smart ass. He laughed and said there won't be any food left if he goes down first, and then I said if there isn't I'd go kiss Joey instead of him, which shut him up. He grumbled "There'll be food," and then I closed the door and got in the shower. It definitely helped me relax, and I immediately felt better. Today I wanted to just sit back and have some regular old fun, and not run for my life and live off junk food. I put on some fuzzy socks, a pair of jeans,and plaid shirt with a cami, and went down to breakfast. It was omelets, courtesy of Anna (we went to the big kitchen), and I grabbed a random one and sat down with it. Derek grabbed three and started shoveling. I struck up a conversation with Anna. Apparently, she works as stock broker, and she has three kids. Lucky for them, none of 'em had supernatural abilities, so they got off scott free. One was married, one in college, and one was in a private high school while staying with his dad (they weren't divorced). I told her about art school, and how my life had only gone off the crazy meter a couple weeks ago. She was interested in how the Edison Group had been shooting at us, and I wondered why Andrew hadn't shared that piece of information yet, because she looked worried. When I had finished (and Derek had devoured his fourth helping of three omelets at a time), we went over to watch TV in the nook. Soon after we had finished and episode of Ace of Cakes (love all those cool cakes. I've always wondered what they tasted like), Andrew came in and ushered us back to the dining area. When everyone else was gathered, Arabelle announced we were gonna have a dance dance revolution tournament to lighten the spirits and get to know each other better. And just to goof off. If we wanted to, we could go change into something stretchier and less heat accumulating clothing. I went up and pulled on some shorts and a t shirt over my cami, and met Derek in the hall way.

"What th------"

I burst out laughing. Derek was wearing a t shirt. And SPANDEX SHORTS. _**SPANDEX!!!!**_ I was rolling on the floor. He scowled at me.

"Shut up!"

"I would.......if I…....could breath!!!!!!!...............Spandex!!!!!!!!" I couldn't stop laughing. His face turned red. Almost as funny as the fact that he wasn't just wearing spandex. It was snot green spandex with pink and orange polka dots.

"Where'd you...........get those.......a 70's.........garage sale!?!?!?!?! He just stood there scowling. Once I calmed down, I tried to stand up without looking at them. No such luck.

"Are you actually..tch...gonna wear those? (tch = kinda like a tired chuckle, the part when the laughter's starting to fade, but your panting from laughing so hard)"

"Unfortunately, this is all Andrew could find that could fit me that wasn't already being used. Why they had these at all I am at loss, but I don't feel like sweating in jeans."

"But you feel like sweating in those?" I had to admit, even though the shorts looked ghastly, his legs didn't look to bad. Muscular, good size compared with his torso. Besides the colors, he essentially looked good.

"Make fun, but that doesn't change the fact that my legs look great."

"Since when do you gloat about your body? Last time I checked, you'd rather be short and cute like Simon, rather than tall and attacked by puberty."

"Since I got a girlfriend," He leaned down to kiss me, then stopped.

"Wait, you think Simon is cute?"

"For a 15 year old boy, yes. But remember, my unconscious thinks your hot."

"That does make things better," and he leaned back in for a nice long kiss.

"Could you move? You mushy freaks are blocking the stairs. That's a fire hazard." Tori was frowning at us.

"Fire hazard my ass. There's another staircase on the other side," Shane said as he ca

me out of his room, wearing normal shorts. Tori had apparently not noticed the Spandex yet. But then she shot us a glare and followed Shane down the stairs. Just then Andrew stuck his head out of one of the doors.

"Hey Derek! I think I found some regular shorts that might fit!"

"Thank God," he said before practically running down the hall. I chuckled, and then made my way down the stairs. When I found the door to the basement, I could already hear the video game music. When I got down there, Arabelle and Damien were playing what I assumed was a practice run. They were both on the advanced level, and from what I could see, it was really hard. They were hitting multiple arrows at once while holding down another and stomping really hard. They had the kind of pads that were soft and made out of that stuff used in rain ponchos, so they moved when the person pushed too hard, and in the end Damien fell on top of the console and turned it off, so they don't know who won. Basically, everyone was laughing and goofing off. I sat down next to Angie.

"Hey Chloe!" I waved and smiled.

"Crazy day yesterday, right? It's so sweet that you're going out with Derek, though. You are right? That's cool. Like my spandex?"

I burst out laughing. She looked really confused. I still saw Derek in those gross shorts.

"What'd I say? Don't you like them? They're bluey-purple and sparkly!" Her eyes said I was crazy, and then I told her about the other shorts upstairs, and she laughed too. Tori and Sarah looked at us weird from across the room on the other couch, but then resumed what I assumed was some form of gossiping, though besides yesterday, what gossip was there? When Derek and Andrew had joined us, we made a chart of the starting matches. My first time was against......Joey. Of course. He smiled evilly and took the left pad, while I reluctantly went to stand on the right.

"Hey, you wanna make this more interesting?" I mentally cringed.

"What exactly are you thinking of?"

"How about a bet? If I win, you k---"

"If you finish that sentence I promise you in 10 minutes you'd wish you kept your mouth shut and had been lucky enough to keep all your limbs." He shut up. I smiled. I chose to start out on light, because beginner looked too easy, but advanced looked scary. Joey chose the same. Actually he was pretty good at it, until he tried to slide tackle me and get me to trip, which I avoided by jumping up and stomping on his ankle. He cried like a little girl and lost the match, and everyone laughed. Mike and Sarah were next. He was wearing some sort of 70's work out outfit (now I knew where the spandex had come from), and she was just wearing some of those cheer leading Capri's and a Hollister t shirt. She was also wearing sunglasses (inside!!) and texting with her bejeweled phone. While dancing. On expert. And didn't miss a step. Meanwhile, Mike was on light, messing up horribly, and being a sore loser by saying he was unfairly challenged and that he sucked at dancing anyway. And we told him he should have done beginner. Next was Shane and Derek. The both chose beginner (ha ha), and they both sucked. The Derek eventually gave up and sat down to try with his hands, and Shane just decided to hit one arrow consecutively for the rest of the match. They both failed miserably, so we were forced to disqualify them both. After them was Tori and Simon. No surprise there. They started out great, both on advanced, but then when Tori got excited, and while flailing her arms one "happened" to slap Simon in the face. That's when the shoving match started. They ended up back to back trying to hit the other one's face over their head , while still dancing. Then Simon hit Tori in the eye and she shrieked, and somehow she wrapped her arm backwards around his neck and pulled up ward, making him choke. He then responded by punching her in the breast, causing another shriek, and then she threw a fireball at him (just a small one), which singed off his eyebrows. Then they were then apprehended by Derek and Shane, because if that had gone on it would have ended up in caged grudge match to the death. Their match was pronounced undecided, and we moved on. After they had been tied to chairs ten feet apart, it was the twins turn. They both did advanced, and the ended up shoving too. The creepy thing was, even with the shoving, they made exactly the same mistakes at exactly the same time. They tied, but we put it down as the both won to make up for Derek and Shane's miserable failure. Then Anna and Andrew faced off. They both did beginner, and they were okay at it. Andrew ended up winning the first fair and not creepy match so far, which was a nice change, but not as funny. Then Arabelle and Damien had a rematch to settle their practice battle issues. The both danced eccentrically, arms flailing in a graceful yet not sort of way, adding in twirls and weird little tricks. But when Arabelle's flying hand pulled out Damien's contact lens, they gave the fight to Damien even though he lost, because he kept on dancing (he found his contact lens under Arabelle's foot. How weird is that?). We broke for lunch, promising to meet back downstairs for the second round. We ate together in the dining area for the first time, and Anna and Arabelle made us the sandwich of our preference. I took a plain old Pb and j, and sat down next to the twins and Mike. They wanted to know what art school was like, and seemed disappointed when I told them I was into film making, not the artsy stuff they liked. But I told them what I had seen of that section of the school. Mike was surprisingly funny. He told me all about his job as a columnist for a local newspaper, and shared some of his recent articles with me. Then when both twins finished and went off to find something to do while waiting for everyone else, Derek and Angie sat down.

"Hey Chloe, guess what?" Angie's curls were making me dizzy.

"Um, what?"

"We're going shopping tomorrow!!!!!!! Oh my God, you have to come with me and Lacie!!!! we go to all the best places, and usually end up somewhere near a candy store!!! And sometimes, Damien comes with us and he can find these amazing things we never would have thought to buy but really work. Like the last time, he found Lacie this midnight blue top with sequins that looked exactly like the night sky, and it even had this little gray wolf sewed onto the bottom that was howling at a shiny silver moon. It goes with every thing she owns and looks great on her. And he found these shiny brown boots for himself that looked like they came right off the runway, and then he sewed on this gold thread in the shape of the symbol for his favorite band. I have no idea what it is, or what band it symbolizes, but it looks great!!!! And after treasure hunting with Damien, we usually head over to the food court, order fries, and then drop them on people on the floor below. It so much fun!! Last time we had Joey with us, and he dropped his soda on a mall cop, and then he was chasing us on his Segway, and we ran into a Victoria's Secret, and we started throwing bras at him. Then, we went out through the employee exit, but he cornered us with his other mall cop buddies in the parking garage and we went to mall jail. Then Anna and Arabelle had to come bail us out. They were not happy, but we had fun making fun of the cops in mall jail. Joey even reenacted the part when we hit him in the face with the first bra. He'd filled it with what was left of his burger, and it hit him on the forehead and he crashed into the wall. And when he reenacted it, he stole the cop guy's hat by telling the cop he wanted to tell him a secret. He had me throw it at his face and then flung himself into the wall. It was really funny, until we got banned, so now we go to this really big mall about an hour away. And Joey has to be supervised at all times. But we still drop fries, just not sodas anymore." I sat there staring for a minute. And then I frowned.

"I don't think I can go," Angie gasped,

"Why not? It's not like your not allowed to go, cuz' we all go together. And you have to come!!!!it would be so much fun to have you there!!!! Oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please?!?!?!?!?"

"Stop that already! I want to come, but..." I was thinking about my dad. How the Edison Group had told him that I'd run away, and how he'd offered a half a million dollar reward to get me back. And the fact that me and Derek had already been sighted once while arguing in an alley, and I was now suspected to be a kidnap victim. It wasn't really all that that hurt me. It was thinking about how worried I'd made my dad, and how I couldn't even send him a letter, or call him, because coming in contact with him would put him in danger. I couldn't even let him know I was alright. He was out there worrying about his daughter who disappeared from a house for crazy kids and could possibly be a kidnap victim, while here I am, perfectly fine, sitting in a house full of luxuries, selfishly only thinking of myself and about going shopping, shallowly involving myself in relationships and digging my way in between brothers, and lazing my butt off without even bothering to tell my father that I wasn't being raped or sold as a prostitute or being abused by some guy or...or....

"Chloe, what's wrong?" I was curled in the fetal position on the floor sobbing, and Derek was leaning down next to me. Worrying. I made everyone worry. I was stupid and helpless and a liability if anything went wrong, and I always got captured, and had no way to protect myself. I made everyone worry about me constantly, and I was doing it again right now. I had to show them that I could take care of myself, and I was fine, and they didn't need to worry anymore. I pushed my self off the floor and wiped my eyes with my sleeve.

"I-I'm f-fine," I said. "Lets just go back downstairs and finish the tournament." I sniffled, then made my way over to the basement door. Because of my breakdown, the adults insisted that I should just watch, and I didn't object, I was feeling queasy any way. Eventually, it ended up being Sarah and Lacie (she skipped the first round cuz she said she was too good to play in the beginning, and the adults didn't mind because we had an uneven amount of people). They both played expert, but I wasn't really watching. The screen looked like just a bunch of flashing colors. Sarah ended up winning by three points, enough to get her the extra + mark she needed to claim victory. We all went back upstairs for dinner, and I sat on the couch with Derek not really watching TV for a couple of hours, before he pulled me upstairs.

"Okay what's going on? I'm almost dying with worry and you haven't said a thing since lunch. What the hell is wrong?!?" I mentally screamed when he said the word worry. I tried to suck up my feelings. If I didn't, I end up making some stupid mistake that cause all of my friends, and Derek, and my Dad, to be killed. I made myself look slightly more queasy.

"Nothing's wrong, I think I just ate something funny, cuz I've been feeling weird since lunch, and when I tried to watch the second round of matches, all I could see was flashing lights." Derek felt my forehead and started checking out my face to see if was sick. I pushed his hands away.

"Don't worry (mentally cringing!), I'll probably feel better in the morning." He looked at me for a minute, kissed my forehead, and went down the hall to his room. I put on a cami and shorts, brushed my teeth and got into bed. I looked out the window at the clear night with all the stars sparkling like Derek's eyes, and I cried myself to sleep.


	6. McDonanld's

_**The Reckoning**_ By 331

Hey guys! I was debating over whether or not to do a Derek POV, but while reading other stories, I dunno if maybe I should hold off until something exciting happens. Maybe I could do a Joey's POV, or maybe an Angie. What do you guys think? I should probably add some action too, but you don't need to worry about that. I've got a plan for action. But should Derek change (again, after this chapter) before, after, or during the action (personally I think I should go with during, to make things more fun, but sometimes a change moment can be made cuter and more romanticky (chlerek) if people aren't dying or fighting around them. Or I could make them argue in any of these times, which would also be fun)? So give me your opinions for the most preferred outcome, while I show you what leads up to it. I'm gonna try Derek (just a small one) to see how it goes. Have fun reading and reviewing with opinionated ideas!!!

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Derek's POV (point of view)

I wasn't satisfied with Chloe's 'funny food' crap. Something was going on that she wasn't telling me, and as much as that hurt, I knew it was hurting her more, so I needed to find out what it was, one way or another. I waited until she was done in the bathroom and had gone to bed, and then went down to her door. I put my ear against it and listened (I could've done this from my own room, but Simon's snoring can sometimes be an annoying distraction). At first there was just rustling, which was probably her just getting into bed. But soon I heard sobs. I was right, she was hurting. I cracked open the door a little, and I saw her lying on the bed, crying. Or at least shaking a bit with crying sounds, since she was facing the window. It hurt just watching. She eventually cried herself to sleep, so I walked in and laid down on the bed next to her. I put my arms around her, and hoping that, even though she didn't know it, she would unconsciously be comforted. It felt wonderful to be there next to her. Her hair smelled like some sort of fruit, orange or mango maybe. She felt right in my arms, and I felt comforted, even though I had nothing to feel comforted about. I started dozing off, and I let myself lose consciousness.

Chloe's POV

I woke up some time later, my arms and side kind of sore, meaning I probably hadn't moved since I fell asleep. I opened my eyes and looked out the window. The moon had moved, meaning it was definitely not morning, but hours from when I went to bed. My eyes felt puffy and my nose was stuffed. I tried to move, but couldn't. That's when I noticed the arms wrapped around me. I started to panic and struggled to get free, but then the arms started to move, which freaked me out even more. I started to scream, but a hand clamped over my mouth.

"Chloe, shut up!!! Do you want to wake the whole house up?!?" Derek?!?!! I stopped struggling, and he loosened a bit. I turn to look at him and took his hand off my mouth. Our faces were really close together, and I felt my face burning and my heart thudding. He smiled at me, and I calmed down a bit. But not a lot.

"What the fuck are you doing in my room at" I looked at the clock " 3:30 in the morning?!?!" I whisper shouted. He just sat there.

"And in my bed??!?! We may be dating, but I think that's taking it a little far!" Derek scowled. I hadn't seen it in a while. It was comforting and familiar, and I felt a little better.

"Chloe, I wasn't trying to sleep with you. I just heard you crying and came to comfort you. And then I fell asleep." He kept on scowling until I stopped glaring in shock. I turned away from him, but being in the same bed made it hard to walk off angry, so I shifted away. But he pulled me back in and turned me around to face him again. I felt myself blush again, and so I put my face against his chest so he wouldn't see.

"So are are you gonna tell me what's wrong?"

"Nothings w-wrong," I stuttered. Damn. Derek jerked me back so he could see my face again, and he was glaring.

"Chloe, don't give me this crap, I know there's something wrong. Now tell me before I.............." He started coughing like it hurt, and then his body shook and he fell off the bed. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed it before. He was covered in sweat and his muscles were spazzing. He was Changing. Right here right now. I jumped up and knelt down next to him. He had stopped for the moment and was just laying there panting.

"We need to get you outside. Now!" He nodded as I helped him up. His muscles were rippling as I grabbed flip flops, a hoodie and a blanket, and pulled him down the stairs and outside into the woods. He dropped to the ground about 20 feet from the forest's edge, and violently began throwing up, during which he was trying to pull off his clothes. I ran up to help, and managed to pull off his sweatshirt and pants before he began another round of spasms. That left him in a t shirt and boxers. He screamed an inhuman howl, and his eyes full of sheer terror. I sat there next him hoping to god it would stop quickly while I rubbed his shoulder blades. As his bones began to realign, I heard pops and cracks amid the cries of pain. Every cry made me wince like someone had thrown a piece glass into my chest. His shoulders moved and changed shape, making it hard to rub, but I managed, thinking more about his pain than anything. He turned to look at me with half human eyes full of anguish and agony.

".......G...go!" he forced out.

"Derek, I'm not leaving, no matter what you say." I kept rubbing his back. He shook his head.

"No... I....." Another spasm rocked his body, causing a few more dry heaves from his now empty stomach. He turned back again.

"Mean......don't.....go..," his back arched up with a sickening crack, making him scream/howl again. I felt coarse fur push through what was left of his t shirt and I hoped he would make a full change this time. The fur stopped growing and it looked like he was done, except he still had human hands and feet. Then another crack and everything reversed. He flipped over and had what looked like a half dog interpretation of a seizure with occasional cracks and yells of pain. I couldn't rub his back anymore, so I settled with holding his shoulder with one hand and grasping his hand with my other. He kept his eyes locked on mine until the last crack, when he seem to deflate. He lay there panting in a ripped shirt an boxers, squeezing my hand so tight it hurt. But I didn't care. All I cared about was that he was okay. I put my arm across to his other shoulder and hugged him. He put his hand weakly on my back. I leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Are you okay?" I felt him nod, and I squeezed his hand.

"Guess you're not ready for a full one yet, huh? That's okay. I still be here for you." I tried to get up to look in to his face, but he pulled me back down and held me there. I laid on him like that for a while. He eventually whispered raspily in my ear.

"Why were you crying? I stiffened. I had forgotten all about it until now. I remembered dad and started crying again. He held me like that a little longer, then pushed me up so I could see his face.

"Why won't you tell me?" I broke and told him everything, about how I could never help anyone, I was always the damsel in distress, and I made everyone worry all the time, especially my dad. And how I was a liability. He frowned at me, but softened a bit.

"You were crying over that? I understand missing your dad and not wanting him to worry like he is, but acting like this just makes us worry more, not less. I had to persuade Simon to not come barging in before I did because he was worried something was wrong. And you were making him worry by trying not worry him!! That was the stupidest choice of action I've ever heard of, and I've heard a lot of stupid things living with Simon. And your definitely not a liability. You may not have a power you can use in battle, but your way more smart about things than Tori is, making her more of a liability than you. You thought to keep your money card in your shoe, you thought to take those girls knives before they could get back up, you thought of how Liz could help us back at the factory, you helped me in the fight with Liam and Ramon by stabbing Liam in the leg and confusing our scents in a puddle and an abandoned apartment, and took out an Edison Group lackey all by yourself Rambo style. I really don't think you need an offensive power. As for being the damsel in distress, well, I'm not sure how to fix that, considering that could all be because of mistakes or clumsiness, which you seem to have a lot of, but that's just a guess," I frowned at the clumsiness part, but other than that I was amazed. I felt myself blush and put my face into his chest. Derek had never said anything like that about me before, or about anyone for that matter. Everything he'd said about me was about something I'd done wrong, and even then it was confined to 3 sentences or less. I hugged him tighter.

"Thanks."

"Your welcome." we got up and I handed him his sweatshirt and pants. He slid them on, and we walked back up to the house. He hadn't let go of my hand since he had finished pulling on his sweatshirt again, but I didn't mind. It felt nice. We walked up the steps on to the porch, and I grasped the door handle and pulled. It didn't move. I tried again, harder. Still nothing. Derek laughed and pushed me aside, and yanked it. Not even an inch. Great, we were locked out. And since no on had bothered to give us a key (I didn't even know it locked on the outside!), we were stuck.

"Well this is just great," I said as Derek inspected the lock. Apparently he wasn't as learned in the skill of lock picking as Rae was, so we had no way of getting in. We even tried all of the other doors and windows. Nothing. I tried to climb the gutter to a second floor balcony, but even on Derek's shoulders I wasn't tall enough (or that good of a climber). Thinking of Rae and Liz made me miss them. I hadn't seen Liz since Buffalo, and Rae since I was with the Edison group. I hoped Rae was okay, and that Liz had been able to see her family, even if they couldn't see her. Then I tripped on a rock walking around to the front and Derek caught me again. Such is the life of a damsel. He put me back up on my feet while chuckling and we resumed our path to the porch. I put the blanket down on the steps and sat, and Derek sat down beside me.

"So what now?" He shrugged.

"We could sleep here, we could sleep in the woods where we were, we could sleep in that tool shed over there, we could scream until someone wakes up and lets us in, we could sit and talk until someone wakes up and lets us in, or we could go find a McDonald's and have a really early breakfast." I though for a minute.

"McDonald's," I said, and he nodded , because apparently he now kept money in one part of his clothing where ever he was, and had some in his sweatshirt. We found a piece of paper, a pencil, and one of those push nails you don't need a hammer for in the tool shed (apparently half was being used as an art studio. It was a big shed, so that would work)(convenient, isn't it?), and we made a note to Andrew and Simon and nailed it to one of the posts on the porch, in case anyone woke up to find our beds empty and came to look outside. We then made our way into the separate garage down near the end of the driveway. Derek picked a set of keys that led us to an ATV (he said he didn't have his license from being in the Lyle house, and refused to take a car, though it would have been less conspicuous) and we drove out of there with me hanging on to his waist for dear life. We sped past a bunch of houses and farms, so I gathered we must be somewhere in the rural parts of upstate NY. The McDonald's ended up not being that far away, it was in the town closest, and we parked the ATV in a car space and went in. It was still only like 5 in the morning, but thankfully the McDonald's was open 24/7, so it was just empty, not closed. I order a bacon, egg, and cheese on a Mcmuffin and paid extra for a chocolate shake, while Derek order a double quarter-pounder, two milkshakes (one strawberry, one vanilla), a large fry and a ten piece chicken nugget, all for breakfast!! Apparently Changing really wipes a person out. He picked a table and started shoveling, while I got us some napkins and little things of ketchup for his burger. Then I stole some of his fries when I thought he wasn't looking, but he grabbed them back before I could eat them and shoved them in his mouth. That started a food stealing war, which lead to a fry war, which ended when he stole the rest of my Mcmuffin and so I dumped his vanilla shake on his head, and he shook it off like a dog, splattering me while I doubled over laughing. Then the manager told us to clean it up, and we reluctantly cleaned up the battle field. He went into the bathroom to wash his hair, and I sat at the table looking out the window. It really was pretty in the rural areas of the world. The sun was starting to come up, and the sunrise looked really pretty.

"Hey, Chloe!" I heard a whiny voice from behind. I jumped and turned around. Sarah was standing there. Or, not really, because she was astral projecting. I looked at the clock and it said 8. wow, I didn't know food took that long. Everyone, especially Simon, must have been going crazy by now. She looked tired and annoyed.

"Chloe where are you? Everyone's worried sick and they made me get up and astral project to you! And I'm not the type to get up before 10, so you better have a good reason for you a Derek to not being here right now!"

"We're at a McDonald's. Derek had a Change last night, and I went out there with him, and then we got locked out, so we decided to go to McDonald's. Check the porch, there should be a note." She still looked annoyed.

"Whatever. Just get back here now, cause Andrew looks like he's going to explode and Simon's nearly peed himself. And don't ever do it again, because I hate mornings," and with that she disappeared. I relaxed again.

"Chloe,"

"Oh my god, Derek don't do that!" I had fallen off my chair.

"So you really did fall for me. Cute." I scowled.

"Very funny. We have to go, Andrew is wigging out and Simon will probably need medical attention if we don't get back."

"So I heard. Let's go," he pulled me off the floor and we walked back out to the ATV. I put my hands around his waist again, and hoped he wouldn't crash us into something. As we rode, I kinda got to thinking that maybe, just maybe, we had just had our first date. There hadn't been any kissing, but I did get to be alone with Derek when he wasn't too grouchy, and that's all I really wanted. I squeezed his waist tighter and close my eyes as the smell of him rolled back in the wind into my face. It was beautiful, just like him. Maybe it had been our first date. All I knew was, that I enjoyed it.

I hoped the ride would be long, so I would have some preparation for Andrew's yell fest when we got back.

No such luck.

That's it for this chapter!! hope you liked it!! I've made a list for exciting events that could possibly occur in the next few chapters, and if you guys want me to put it up for you to vote on the best possible idea, then I need at least 10 more reviews. It's a really good list. I tell you a couple:

#1) Chloe had a twin that died at birth, and she contacted it to find out that he or she is growing up in the spirit world and their spirit will stop aging when she dies. And then they later find out cool things about the connection between them and how Chloe has powers from it that no other necromancer has. And maybe even the power to bring he or she to life!!!

#2) Chloe's Dad finds Chloe and Derek while there not at the safe house, and Derek gets arrested!!! They go to court, and the Edison Group shows up!!!!!

If you want to find out the others, review!!!!!!


	7. Water Wars and Scary Power Truths

_**The Reckoning**_ By 331

Okay guys, I told you if I got at least 10 reviews I would give you the whole list. So I am. I took me a long time to decide if I should, because then it wouldn't be as surprising to find out what happens if I didn't tell you at all, but I've decided to be a push over and give you most of them. There are a couple things I'm not going to show, because those are just too good that they wouldn't work without the elements of suspense and surprise. but I will give you the list I had when I wrote the last chapter. And just so you know, if its bold font, it will definitely happen (there may be future changes, but these have the highest possibility of being put in), and if its regular font, I haven't decided yet. So here's the list (careful, its _really_ long):

#1) **Mall trip**

#2) **more interaction with housemates (romantic or otherwise)**

#3) C**hloe gets new powers**

#5) Derek gets new powers

#6) Someone gets amnesia

#7) Someone gets kidnapped

#8) Derek dies (but comes back later with Chloe's new powers (there has to be a happy ending!))

#9) Car crash (accompanied by other strenuous events)

#10) Edison Group attacks and something weird happens to someone's powers

#11) Derek mutates in wolf form because of messed up genetics

#12) Chloe's new powers cause ghosts to flock to her overwhelmingly and fight over her (agito vs agito while Chloe's stuck in the same room!!!)

#13) Werewolves come for Derek (maybe or maybe not related) and fight breaks out

#14) Either they find Kit or Chloe finds out she has another supernatural relative besides Aunt Lauren and goes to look for them

#15) Chloe finds out about dead twin that is growing up in the spirit world and that will stop aging when she dies, and new powers and connection stuff like being able to bring him/her to life comes into play

#16) Chloe's dad finds her and Derek and takes her home and either Derek helps her escape after leaving her dad a note or telling Dad everything and getting him to help or flee the country

#17) ↑variation b: Chloe's dad finds them and arrests Derek. They go to court and the Edison group comes!

#18) Andrew and the Adults relocate them to LA, where they go to school with fake last names and Chloe's hair dyed, and then Chloe's dad finds them there and tries to arrest Derek, but Edison group intercepts and supernatural fight breaks out while Chloe's Dad and couple cops watch in shock and/or are hurt or kidnapped or killed.

#20)↑variation b: LA school, Chloe and and Derek are demonstrating some kind of thing to the school live via video, when Chloe's dad tries to arrest Derek on video.

#21)↑variation b part 2: all that, and Edison group comes and supernatural fight, all caught on video and streamed live to the entire school (Edison group doesn't know about video or that it's live, and Chloe and Derek conveniently forget)

#22)↑variation b part 2b: Chloe gets new powers that allow her powers to become offensive (battle wise, not insultingly), and she can do all the stuff she did in her dream (except killing the others, disintegrating, and falling into an ocean of glass), and she does this on the video to to the complete surprise of her dad and everyone else including Derek and the Edison group, and the housemates come to help fight, and Derek changes on command for the first time

#23) Adults put them in military school for safety reasons, which unfortunately is run secretly by the Cabals, and they begin hunting them too,and capture everyone except Chloe, Derek, Simon and Tori, and they finally break and go to see Chloe's dad which brings up more problems

#24) They flee the country and end up with the twins' brothers in England

#25) Aunt Lauren escapes and meets up with them

#26) **Derek Changes again**

#27) Time travel!!!! (just kidding!:P)

Review and give your opinion!!!!!(you can pick more than one)

(I think they're going to go to a school, but still haven't picked which one, and maybe Derek gets arrested twice?) (see what I mean by picking and combining more than one?!?!)

Anyway here's chapter 7

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong.

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV

Andrew was livid. He looked like he had been holding his breath ever since he found our beds empty, which was probably over two hours ago, so his face was puce. And when we came up the drive, he decided to put that pent up air to good use. Or, at least, loud use.

"ARE YOU INSANE!?!?!? THE EDISON GROUP IS HUNTING YOU DOWN TO KILL YOU, AND YOU LEAVE THE ONLY PLACE YOU ARE CURRENTLY SAFE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT TO GO TO McDONALD'S?!?!?!? DID YOU EVEN CONSIDERED WHAT THE REST OF US WOULD THINK, WITHOUT TELLING US OR EVEN LEAVING A NOTE―"

"Um, Andrew?" I said meekly from behind a tree about thirty feet away.

"WHAT?!?!" He was glaring at me throwing invisible eye daggers.

"We did leave a note. It's nailed to the post next to you," Derek said. He was sitting on a large rock only about 10 feet from Andrew, acting all nonchalant, as if this happened every day. He was also wearing his signature scowl. I gave him mental props for not running, but wasn't to sure that the effect it had on Andrew was a smart one to cause. Andrew turned and spying the note, swiped it off the pole and read it with a scowl almost identical to Derek's. His face went from outraged violet to just really angry red when he finished. At least he understood that we had been locked out, Derek had needed food after his change, and we had given a time frame and exactly where and how we were going. But he was still mad.

"YOU COULD HAVE JUST YELLED UNTIL SOMEONE LET YOU IN!"

"Well yeah, but then we'd get a lecture on going outside in the middle of the night alone and then waking the whole house up because we got stupidly locked out. So we left a note and went for food. If any of you had bothered to come check the porch then maybe you would have known that." Well said, Derek, but I don't think Andrew really appreciates you pointing out his mistakes. Then again he was doing that to us, so he had it coming. At least we were mostly calm and could take it (I was still hiding behind the tree). Andrew realized he was boxed into a corner and deflated, but still glared us with a look that said 'Do it again and you die', and ushered us into the house, still very mad. Everyone looked up as we entered the kitchen. I was tackled by two large blurs. Derek began to growl, but then chuckled and just stepped over.

"Chloe!!" It was Simon and Angie. Once Simon saw I was okay, he got off me and went over to Derek.

"Don't scare me like that ever!!! Do you even know the possibilities that went through my mind?!?!? Well of course not, only Caleb does cause he reads minds (smirk form Caleb), but you could have been kidnapped or killed or had just run away with Derek, which would be cute but terribly stupid. Don't ever do that again!!!" Angie was suffocating me with her elbows in my ribs.

"If I..say sorry.... do I get... to breathe....again?"

"Oh my god, here I'll get up! Sorry sorry sorry!" she jumped off me and I pulled myself up. Damien and Lacie were there too.

"That was incredibly stupid. If you had been attacked, we could have done nothing to help you, and we'd be more vulnerable if we had gotten attacked, because we'd have one less werewolf and they could've used you as hostages. Or you could've gotten into a car crash, or you could've been recognized and Derek arrested and you sent to your Dad. Your extremely lucky nothing bad happened, but because of that you learned nothing whatsoever about the consequences of what could've happened, so count your lucky stars that you even got back." Lacie was frowning at me. But then Angie elbowed her in the ribs and she smiled.

"But I guess I am glad you're back and nothing happened ," she said sheepishly, and I smiled back. Damien was scrutinizing me.

"What?" I said.

"Your a mess. You should have put on something more flattering before you got locked out." What?

"I was sleeping! Why in hell did I need to look flattering? And besides, all was thinking about was that Derek was starting to Change and that I had to get him outside." Everyone gasped and looked at Derek.

"You changed last night bro?" Simon was looking up at Derek, who was scowling at me. Sheesh, I didn't know it was such a big secret. He shrugged, which meant 'yeah' in Derekian (Derek language).

"Was it full?" Shane asked from the doorway. I hadn't noticed him earlier, but I guess werewolves were like that. Silent, moody, and on their own schedule. Derek shook his head, and Shane gave a curt nod and sat on the couch next to Joey, Tori, and Sarah. Anna, Arabelle, and Mike then took me and Derek aside and lectured us, though much less explosive than Andrew (who was still angry over at the granite countered island), still pretty much said 'don't do that again' and 'your lucky nothing happened' and 'don't be so stupid next time'. Then once everyone had calmed down, Angie roped us into going to the bouncy house room with her, which ended up not just having bouncy houses. It also had all those fun giant inflatable game things they have at carnivals, like giant inflatable jousting, and an inflatable rock wall, and an inflatable water gun maze, and an inflatable slide, and an inflatable obstacle course race thing, and one of those inflatable things where there a pole in the middle with a cord running through it connected to two harnesses, and two people get strapped in and run in opposite directions, and the first one to reach the wall on the far end of their side first wins. Plus many more. We ended up having a water gun war through out the whole room. The teams were Derek, me, Angie, Sadie, Tori, and Joey, versus Shane, Damien, Lacie, Simon, Petra, and Caleb (Sarah didn't want to play because she didn't want to mess up her straightened hair. Really? Straight hair a over water gun fight? I understood not wanting to get her hair wet after taking the time to straighten it, but she could just wear a swim cap or something). Angie used her powers to float up onto the roofs of the bouncy houses, and shot people in the back of the head, while Derek and Shane used their enhanced senses to catch us unawares, or pretend they didn't know we were there and then suddenly hit us unexpectedly. Caleb used his mind reading to figure out our moves and step to the side before he got hit, and Joey used his powers on our arms so whenever we aimed at him we would end up hitting Derek, regardless of where he was (Derek ended up cornering him and shooting him point blank in the face for two whole minutes(unfortunately, no, he didn't drown)). The twins were different though. They had their own level above the rest of us (2 levels above me and Damien, because necromancy did help unless we had an agito ghost friend to assist us and Liz still hadn't come to see me yet, and Damien said he'd never met a ghost of an agito half demon. Then again, he could've been lying, but I highly doubted it). They didn't even use water guns, just controlled the water and pummeled the rest of us until we were soaked to the bone. I swear, they had the force of a fire hose. It was great, and tried to be Rambo again. I heard the others yelling to or at each other, and Angie laughing as she squirted multiple people. I was hidden behind the giant slide to the left of the door, and I secret agent rolled over to the maze and flipped over the nearest wall (maze wall, not real one!!!). I came close to an intersection, and reversed as I saw the twins battling it out with giant water snakes. Like floating water in the shape of snakes, hissing and biting and striking each other. It was scary to see. I backed away quickly and quietly and went the other way. I stopped and listened, and heard footsteps coming. I sprinted as quietly as I could toward the sound, and then took a quick left. The footsteps were coming from where I would have gone if I'd gone straight. It probably wasn't Tori, Lacie, or Simon, because, like me and Damien, they had to be extra careful because their powers weren't good for avoiding attacks. And throwing fireballs had been forbidden, considering we didn't want to burn the house down, so Tori had practically nothing to use that she could control, and Simon's powers were too weak to be of much use. Lacie said she was only good at levitating, so she and Angie betrayed their teams and made a truce, and they were both up there somewhere shooting people. It was probably Caleb or Joey, because they were the only ones with good enough powers to have the luxury of just walking, and the werewolves were always silent. When they got close enough, I jumped out with my eyes closed and yelled "!!!" and randomly shot a long jet of water in the forward direction. The response was a chuckle and two jets of water in the face from in front and where I had been hiding. In front was Caleb and he was smirking. And to my left was Shane, who was laughing. They closed in and I tore down the path to the right (4 way intersection), with them close behind. I looked back while running and squirted at Caleb, who ducked, and the water hit Shane in the face, causing him to trip and fall on Caleb. They both hit the ground and I laughed, but stopped abruptly as I came back into the clearing where the twins were snake battling. The paused to look at me, then looked evilly at each other. Earlier I had shot them both, causing their water tornadoes (this was before the snakes) to fall on their heads and soak them. Apparently they wanted revenge.

"Truce?" Sadie asked.

"Truce," Petra said, and they turned their evil gaze toward me. I gulped. They morphed their snakes into a 30ft water dragon, and it surged forward. I shrieked and went running backward. It was following me with the twins riding on top and maniacally laughing. I was sprinting for my life through the maze. I saw Derek, Damien, Joey, Simon, and Tori battling up ahead. They saw me and the water dragon and gaped.

"RUN!!!" I screamed. They all turned and sprinted, except for Derek, who ran to me, picked me up, and carried me on his back out of the maze.

"Don't think you'll get out that easily!!!!!" Sadie yelled.

"Yeah, we're in control now!!!!" Petra called, and then the dragon breathed water/fire (it would've been fire, but it's a dragon made of water, so it breathed fire-like water). Derek leaped to the side, dodging by millimeters. I heard Lacie and Angie call out

"EVERYONE VERSUS THE DRAGON!!!!" and the responses of

"ALL RIGHT!!"

"AWESOME!!!!"

"THIS IS GREAT!!!!"

"I LOVE IT HERE!!!"

"Whatever (Tori)"and

"I always wanted to slay a dragon, just never expected it to happen (Damien)." And also two loud grunts from Shane and Derek.

"Hey, can I shoot fireballs at it?" Tori yelled.

"Only if you hit point blank, and are aiming where you shouldn't be able to miss and hit something or someone." Lacie replied. And immediately after a giant fireball hit the dragon in the stomach and made the water inside turn black.

"Hey!!!!" the twins screeched.

"You polluted our dragon!!!!!" and then a jet of black water shot out an hit Tori in the face.

"EW!!!!!! I'm covered in black water!!!!!!" Everyone laughed, and Tori ran out to get it off. Then everyone shot jets of clean water at the dragon, but it just got bigger, while the twins laughed evilly.

"You guys, aim for the twins, not the dragon!" Simon yelled, and everyone focused on hitting the twins. They shrieked and fell right through the middle of the dragon (apparently they needed to focus to ride on top of it) and all the black water came crashing down. Everyone got covered in gross black stuff, and though the twins got the black off the room and inflatables and themselves, they left it on us while they laughed. Then we all came over to hug them (wet black water hugs) and they quickly saved themselves by getting it off everyone else. But the said they were leaving it on Tori, because she polluted it in the first place. We thought that was fair and didn't argue further. Then we all went out to change (though the black water was gone, it still had stained our clothes) and came back down for lunch. Tori was shrieking at the twins to get the black stuff off her, and they were ignoring her while Joey, Caleb, and Simon watched and laughed. Shane had challenged Angie and Lacie to an eating contest, and to his dismay Lacie was in the lead. Damien was talking to Sarah about clothes, and the adults were having a whispered conversation in the kitchen. Derek hadn't come down yet. I just watched from the door at these events. I just wanted everything to stay like this, but I knew it wouldn't. The Edison group needed to be stopped, and eventually I'd have to go back to my Dad. Thinking about him still hurt, but I didn't cry. I wondered if I'd ever be able to tell him the truth. Maybe if the Edison group was stopped and there wasn't any danger, then maybe I could. But I shouldn't be thinking of it now. I felt hands around my waist and someone leaning on me.

"Miss me?" I chuckled and hugged Derek. He kissed my hair.

"What's for lunch?" I shrugged.

"Whatever's over there," I said, and he grabbed my hand and pulled me into the room. Simon saw me and waved, and I smiled and waved back. Apparently it was spaghetti and meatballs, because Angie and Shane had their faces in it in defeat as Lacie jumped around shouting 'I won!'. Derek grabbed two bowls and I grabbed one and we sat down nest to them.

"I can't believe I lost." came out muffledly from Shane's direction,

"Well get used to it because I'm here now and I.....I think I'm gonna--," Lacie ran into the bathroom and we heard the sound of retching. Shane and Angie shot up.

"Throwing up means instant disqualification!!" Shane yelled and he and Angie resumed shoveling. I grimaced and looked over at Derek to see he was already on his fourth bowl. _Great, I'm surrounded by pigs,_ I thought. I nibbled at my spaghetti, and watched as eventually everyone migrated over and sat down for lunch with bowls of spaghetti. I got bored twirling my fork through the leftover noodles in my bowl, so I got up and put my dishes near the sink. I was about to walk out when Andrew gestured for me to sit back down. I did and he cleared his throat.

"Okay, so today we are going to go shopping. Chloe, we debated over whether or not it would be wise to let you come, seeing as you have half a million dollars on your forehead,"-I got some stares with that comment-" but, we decided it would be worse to leave you here alone in case something happened. So Sarah and Tori have volunteered to give you a make over and some clothes to borrow, and you will come with us and we will get your hair professionally died." I just then remembered my hair color. We'd been here for what, 2 days, and I'd already forgotten my hair crisis. Now that I was thinking about it, my hair felt icky and itchy and probably made me look goth. Or at least depressed or sick (don't get me wrong, I like goth, I just would not look good dressed as a goth). Andrew went on.

"We're going to the closest mall to buy clothes for Derek, Simon, Tori and Chloe, and some new stuff for the rest of you too. We'll be taking separate cars, which we'll sort out later, and we'll all meet by the entrance to Macy's to figure out timing and stuff. So don't make any plans for the next couple of hours, okay?" We all nodded and resumed eating. I got up and went down the hall. I found myself wandering into the library. It had a teen/young adult section, so I grabbed Marked by P.C. Cast (House of Night novel), and was about to sit down in a comfy armchair with it when I saw a sign for the Power training and usage section (non-fiction). I put Marked on the chair and sauntered over. I looked through the N's until I came to Necromancy, and pulled out a thick red leather book with silver writing. Necromancy was swirled in cursive on the front (as said the section sign where it was), and it had no written author I could find. I opened to the the table of contents and glanced down to 'common time line of necromancy powers' and flipped to that page.

_Necromancers are all unique, but their power development generally follows the same path. When young, sometimes with the more powerful necromancers, they may begin to see a few ghosts sparsely throughout their early years,but most don't until around the ages of 11 to 16. Then their powers begin to increase gradually, whereas one day they see one ghost and on the next they see ten. The amount and age varies for each person. Later on when their powers are more developed (around the 21-26 range),necromancers can begin to see imprints, which is when a gruesome death so foul has occurred in a certain place that it replays over and over again, imprinted on that area. Some of the more powerful necromancers may be able to sense or even see them early, like at 19 to 20, but that is extremely rare. Bringing corpses back to life is one of the hardest things a necromancer can be able to do. Some necromancers aren't even strong enough to accomplish this even with fully developed powers. It takes an enormous amount of energy and fully developed powers to even begin to scratch the surface of this feat, and involves a certain extremely complicated ritual including certain elements. Not many have done it without practice, and very few were able to control the corpses once animated. The reanimating itself takes up so much energy that the necromancer usually does not have enough left to control what they created, and that can sometimes become a very bad situation. No necromancer under 35 has ever accomplished the task of reanimating a corpse, let alone controlling it, which means unless you are an extremely powerful fully developed necromancer with the ambition to control dead bodies, you will never animate and control a corpse. Talking to a ghost is the easiest thing a Necromancer can do. Summoning a spirit is a little harder, and you need to have something or be somewhere in relation the spirit you are trying to summon. Banishing is harder still, because it takes the most concentration and energy, but with practice and experience it usually able to be done quite easily. Any other powers are usually not because of necromancy, or because the powers have been tampered with. Tampered with powers can be extremely strenuous and hard to control,unless the powers have been made to be weaker. Because no one really had the stone heart needed to tamper with another person's power, this field has not been thoroughly studied, so no conclusive evidence can be found to say tampering is all good or all bad or a little of both. The only cases known to have been tampered with have usually ended with suicide, because the overwhelming powers were just to horrible for the necromancers to bear. Again, this evidence is not conclusive so there is no sure knowledge of powers that have been tampered with. The theories have usually been said as ending badly for the necromancer, and no one wants to test those theories. _

Except the Edison group. My blood had gone cold. I had never been this frightened in my life. Everything on that list I had already, all of them extremely early and my powers had been tampered with. What if the evidence was conclusive, and I ended up dying?!?!?

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	8. A Trip to the Mall

_**The Reckoning**_ By 331

Okay, when I said pick one and review, I actually meant tell me which one you picked and put it in your review. Only one person actually told me what they wanted (thank you kenhat!), which I do appreciate, but I would like it if more people told me what they would like in their reviews. It doesn't have to be long, just say 'I liked ideas # 7 and 16' and anything else you want to say. That would really help. Oh, and just so you guys know, I might be starting another story (I'm not stopping this one anytime in the near future, so don't worry)(I mean I will eventually, but just not anytime soon). It will be another Darkest Powers one, but it will be after they beat all the bad people (the Reckoning shows there's more than just the Edison Group) and go back to their lives. And Derek and Chloe probably haven't happened yet. So you have something else to look forward to besides the updates on this story. So, just keep reading, and keep reviewing!!!!!

And I'm sorry for waiting so long to update, but my brother broke his clavicle (collar bone), so I haven't really had much brain space for writing. But he's out of the hospital and going back to school on Monday, so I can just relax and write. So, enjoy!!!

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV

Oh my god. Oh my god! What if things got worse?!?! What if I got so out of control I got hurt?!?! Or worse, what if I killed people?!?! I was standing there in shock for so long I didn't notice Derek come in.

"Chloe?" I shrieked and tripped and fell on my face. Derek chuckled and helped me up.

"That never gets old. But anyway, are you okay? You look kinda pale." He helped me sit down, and he sat in the chair next to me. I tried to look less pale. He didn't need to worry. I was probably going to be fine, and telling him would just cause problems, so I tried smiling. No success.

"I thought we agreed to tell each other everything, regardless of how the other might feel." He looked at me frowningly.

"Um, when exactly did we agree to that?"

"Last night."

"Oh, yeah. But I don't have anything to say. It's just my hair and the lighting in here. It makes me look paler. I wonder what color I should get it dyed. What do you think about purple?" He glared at me.

"Chloe?" he half growled.

"What?" he just sat there scowling at me. I sighed.

"Fine. Read this." I picked the book up off the floor from when I had dropped it in my shock. I flipped to the chapter I had been on and passed it to him. I watched his face turn from annoyed to unreadable. I waited a minute or two, but he didn't move.

"Derek?" I poked him. Nothing.

"Derek? Hello? Earth to Derek! Come on, you're scaring me!" He shook his head, and then looked at me. He looked freaked. His eyes said everything. I felt tears coming, and as soon as he saw them, he jumped out of his chair, scooped me up and hugged me tightly. I cried into his chest.

"Its gonna be okay, Chloe, you're gonna be fine. Nothing will go wrong, everything'll be fine." It was more like he was reassuring himself than me, but him just being there was enough, so I just kept hugging him. He loosened, and pushed me back so he could look into my eyes. I couldn't help just staring into them, and he stared back, and we went on like that for at least a century. Or a minute. Could've been either. Finally I broke the silence.

"What are we gonna do? I don't want to die! I just want to be normal, and live a regular life, where I don't have to worry about dying from mutated genetics, or crazy scientists with guns! Where I can just be with my friends and be with you, and...and...." I erupted into a fresh round of tears, and Derek just hugged me again and rubbed my back. When I believed I had finished, I looked up again. Then Andrew called me, saying Tori and Sarah needed to give me a makeover for the mall trip. I sighed, and Derek just scowled.

"Should I even go to the mall?"

"I'd rather you not, but if you get your hair dyed, you might be safer, so I think you should." I sighed again.

"Okay, but what are we gonna do about this? We can't just ignore it. Things could get bad."

"Chloe, I promise if things get bad, I'll be right there to stop it." He smiled at me, like a real smile, that lit up his whole face, and my stomach decided it wanted to be a Japanese acrobat. I pushed up on my tiptoes and pulled him down, and kissed him for almost 60 seconds, then squeezed his hand and went off to find Tori and Sarah. His last facial expression made my heart ache to leave, being so beautiful, but I had to endure pretty girl time with Tori and Sarah, so I kept walking.

They found me in the kitchen. I had walked two feet when I was ambushed. You'd think I would find them, since I was the one looking. Yet, in their worlds, that's not how it works. Both my arms were grabbed from behind and I was wheeled out of the kitchen backward and up the stairs into a gigantic bathroom. I was pushed into a chair and the next thing I knew my face was being poked and fluffed and powdered all over.

"Wha—–!"

"Shh! Stop talking or you'll smudge!" Tori's voice came from somewhere above me. I stayed silent with my eyes closed until they were done.

"Okay, open!!" Angie?! What was she doing here? I thought it was just Tori and Sarah! I opened my eyes and looked in the mirror. 'Whoa, that couldn't be me, could it?', and 'who the hell is that?!' was what was running through my head. I had blush and purple eye shadow and black eye liner, and I looked fabulous with the pale pink lipstick. Angie was bouncing with energy beside me, and Tori and Sarah were standing back, awaiting my response.

"I..I.. I love it!" I said. Angie squeaked with delight. But Tori and Sarah looked at each other, and Tori nodded and grabbed my hand. They led me down stairs into the kitchen. Everyone was there. Except Derek. People ooh and whistled, and then slapped each other for whistling. I turned scarlet.

"Wow, Chloe, I knew you were cute, but I didn't know you could be that hot!'

"Dude, she has a boyfriend! Even though, she does look pretty nice,"

"Both of you, shut up! She looks fine! Way better than you, anyway!" and so erupted the quarrels. Then Angie, Tori, and Sarah pulled me out of there and down towards the library.

"Now's time for the real test. Make sure to send wolf boy a gag for me," and with that, Tori pushed me into the library, where Derek was absorbed in reading. He looked up as I walked in, and his mouth dropped to the floor. Again, my face was scarlet. I looked down at my feet. Well, at least I knew looked pretty. But would it prevent people from recognizing the girl on the wanted posters under the reward sign for half a million dollars, that I was sure was in every police station on the east coast, and had been on the news many more times than once (well, almost sure. I had been avoiding watching the news for exactly that reason.)? I heard Derek get up, and the next thing I knew, we were kissing. I put my arms around his neck and he slid his around my waist and pulled me closer. I smiled and pushed harder. Unfortunately, having lungs means we have to breath, so we ended up panting in a chair, me on his lap. Derek had pink lipstick on his lips, which got me laughing, and at first he was confused, but then caught his reflection in the window, and it was his turn to be scarlet. I was rolling on the floor. He started laughing too, and then started chasing me, which ended up becoming a game of tag in a maze of book shelves. Eventually Tori and came back in and bitchily stopped us by tripping me, and then Derek racing over and picking me up, and then carrying me out after Tori (much to my dismay, yet being in his arms made it a little better). She redid my lipstick on the way back to the kitchen. When we arrived, Derek swung me down onto my feet, and we sat on the couch. Everyone else was already gathered. Andrew stood up.

"Okay guys, we're leaving for the mall in 20 minutes, gather what you want to bring, and meet us out front and we'll divide you into the different cars." A lot of us went upstairs to get what they wanted to bring, but since I had nothing and was already wearing a sweatshirt, I just kept sitting. Derek, Shane, Simon, Caleb, and Mike stayed in the room too. We all just watched some random TV until Andrew shepherded us outside. In the first car was Anna (driver), Lacie, Tori, Sarah, and the twins (Honda minivan).In the second car was Mike (driver), Damien, Joey, Simon, and Andrew (Toyota Highlander). And in the last car was Arabelle (driver), Derek, Shane, Angie, Caleb, and me (Chevy truck). Shane had a pickup truck too, but the adults wanted us to go all together, so they didn't let him drive it. It was an interesting ride. Angie was playing some kind of puzzle game involving some blonde kid in green with a sword and a hourglass, that I knew but couldn't remember the name of, and she was moving in all directions while doing so. Example: if she was trying to kill something evil onscreen, her unoccupied limbs would try to kill _us_ (unintentionally of course). Caleb just stared out the window from the backseat, and Shane, Arabelle, and Derek where having some kind of argument about that show Deadliest Warrior. Apparently Shane thought a gladiator could so totally whoop a ninja's ass, but Derek and Arabelle agreed that the ninja's agility and long range weapons would definitely crush the gladiator. I on the other hand just sat there uncomfortably, wondering if I was ever going to be noticed. But then I got bored and tried talking to Caleb.

"Hey," I said. He didn't look up, just kept staring at the blurry trees going by.

"Um, Caleb? Hey!" I said a little louder. He glanced my way and grunted, which I took as a disgruntled 'What?'. Then I was about to ask him something when Angie's hand hit me in the back of the head as she exclaimed

"OH MY GOD, I DID IT! I beat the stupid flying zombie sister things!" right into my ear. I cringed as Caleb smirked and went back to staring out the window. I rubbed the back of my skull as I tried again.

"Um, Hey Caleb, what are you gonna get at the mall?" He looked at me again, this time actually answering me with words.

"I think I'm probably gonna go look for some good books, then maybe wander a bit. Why?" it was the first time he actually spoke to me. His voice was lower than I expected. But then I shrugged and answered him.

"I thought if you were gonna just do whatever, you could come along with us. I'm going to need someone sane to talk to if this keeps up for the whole trip," I said as I gestured to the rest of the car. He nodded.

"Whatever. But don't expect me to rush into dressing rooms with you and hold onto your purse, you got Derek for that." He went back to looking out the window. But, I didn't have a purse, and if I did, why would I have Derek hold it? Weird sentence. I turned back to the front. Derek had stopped arguing with Shane and Arabelle and was staring at me. I looked up at him and smiled, and he half smiled back and squeezed my hand. I hadn't even noticed he was holding it. And it was kinda tight. (just so you can visualize this, Shane and Arabelle were in the front, Angie, me, and Derek were in the middle, and Caleb was in the back. If you're looking from the front of the car to the back, then Angie was on my left and Derek was on my right. From my position, Derek was on my left and Angie was on my right. Just so you can see it. And Caleb was looking out the left window in the back.) I leaned onto his shoulder and he put his arm around mine. And we sat like that the rest of the ride. Shane eventually took out his i-home, and he connected Arabelle's i-pod to it, so we took turns picking through songs. Apparently, Shane was more of a metal kind of guy, whereas Arabelle liked rock music, or anything she heard while playing guitar hero. Derek and I were more of a Daughtry kind of people, Angie was too interested in beating the squid thing called Bellum (I remembered what it was called. Legend of Zelda Phantom Hourglass. It's a continuation of Legend of Zelda Wind Waker. Both great games. I love all the Zelda Games. I even have most of them. The only ones I don't have are the ones for game boy advance. I only have Link's Awakening and Four Swords for game boy advance, and I'm stuck after getting out of the castle. Personally my favorites are Twilight Princess, Wind Waker, and both Nintendo 64 Zeldas (Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask). Phantom Hourglass is a very close second, and then Spirit Tracks is third, and then Four Swords for Game Cube, after that the first Zelda ever for Super Nintendo (just called Legend of Zelda, since it was the first) and then the rest of the Zeldas I haven't played.), and Caleb didn't care. So by the time we had gotten to the mall, I decided I was glad I didn't comment on what kind of music was better, because it had erupted into another argument via Shane and Arabelle.

The mall was big. Like bigger than any mall I had ever been to, and I lived in New York. We met up with the others in the parking lot, and we made JCPenny the rendezvous point for when we were going to leave. It was 2:00, and we had until 5:30 to shop. We were given debit cards by Andrew, saying each one had $300. Tori and Sarah ran off almost immediately, and Arabelle and Anna took the twins in the direction of the toy store. Angie pulled me over to shop with her, Damien, Lacie and Joey, and Derek followed behind with Shane. Simon and Caleb came walking over and grabbed Derek back, and I waved as he pulled in the other direction, while Shane walked with them laughing, and Joey raced after them saying he didn't want to clothes shop but would come back and eat with us in the food court in about an hour or so. We walked over to Nordstrom's, and Angie pulled me into the thicket of the store. We tried on some pretty ridiculous stuff from the dress section, while Damien kept complaining we should go look at something we actually might buy, and Lacie telling him to shut up as she tried on a sparkly indigo ball gown. Then to Damien's dismay, we forced him into a ballgown, and then dared him to go ask out the clerk, who happened to be a goth guy. The only way we got him to do it was Lacie holding his designer shoes next to a fireball while threatening to torch them, so he quickly put on the shiny silver stilettos and waddled very unladylike over to the checkout line. Then he tripped and fell on clerk, and turned crimson, which made the rest of us laugh hysterically. He then proceeded to ask him out, and then the clerk dropped him, which made us roll on the floor, causing those who weren't staring at Damien look at us. He picked himself off the floor and limped over to us with a scowl.

"When we get back to the house, you are so dead. And if you ever make me do anything like that again, you'll wish you were never born."

"Um, Damien, the back of the dress was unzipped the whole time. Nice underwear, by the way," Lacie smirked and began another round of laughter as Damien stomped past us into the dressing room and slammed the stall door shut.

After we finished goofing off, we went for some real shopping at abercrombie and hot topic. Lacie and Angie helped me pick out a whole wardrobe, and then Damien helped me put back some of their more 'extreme' selections, and picked out some great accessories that really flattered my body type. Angie got some black laced tutus in all different colors, and some awesome converse sneakers, while Lacie went for the graphic tees and scarves and strappy heels. Damien got some hats and some great skinny jeans that looked really good with his neon ties. Eventually we got hungry, so we made our way over to the food court. The guys were already there. Derek and Shane had gotten enough to feed China, and Caleb and Simon were sharing some fries. Joey was pretending to eat a hamburger as he slid some ice down Derek's shirt, which caused him to jump up and try to extract them from his shirt like they were mice. They all laughed at him, and then Derek grabbed Joey by the collar and pushed him against a pillar that held up the ceiling (big, marble, rectangular, can't miss them). Joey cowered like a wimp, and Derek poured a bottle of ketchup down his shirt and then squished him up against the wall. So in the end, Derek was cold and Joey got wet and sticky. And got his shirt ruined. We walked up laughing. Simon waved us over, and Derek looked up from laughing at Joey's disgust and saw me. He smiled. I stopped breathing, and being me, I also tripped. Derek jogged over and grabbed me before I hit the floor. He chuckled.

"You really have to learn how to walk," he laughed. I scowled.

"At least I'm pretty,"

"You are that," and he kissed me. It was short and sweet. I heard and smirk form behind.

"Could you move? I want to eat something before I lose my appetite." Ah, Tori. She and Sarah brushed past us towards the others. Derek ordered me a milkshake and some fries, and we sat at the end of the table together. Angie and Lacie sat down beside me, and Damien and Joey across from them. Everyone else sat at the other end. Joey and Angie started up a fry war, which got the rest of the table involved. Derek, Simon, Caleb, and I finally just got up and moved to another table.

"So Chloe, did you get some good stuff?" Simon eagerly asked. I smiled at him.

"I got enough to clothe the entire homeless population in the entire state of New York. Assuming, of course, all the homeless people are my size."

"We got some good stuff too. Did you know that Brookstone's has these chairs that......" and so began the half an hour long conversation on the weird luxury electronics that were totally useless but sounded really cool. Eventually the fry war of the other table ended, and it was time to go get my hair dyed. Everyone came to see the results. Derek held my hand as we got closer to the hair place. Everyone waved from the waiting area as I was led into the back of the salon. The lady let me sit in one of those swirly salon chairs. And she treated me like I was eight. Kept calling me dearie. It was actually pretty annoying. But I let it slide, and just picked my hair color. She laid the chair back, and put a smock thing over me (thankfully, it was not a kiddie one, it was just black), and I just closed my eyes and hoped it be over quick. Lots of unknown liquids and bad smelling gels went in it, and it all felt squishy and weird in my hair. When she finally just rinsed it I was glad. I looked in the mirror and gasped. My hair was light brown. It complimented my face wonderfully, and it was silky and straight, and the wispy haircut I had, that looked too kiddie with my original strawberry blonde hair, and creepy with my badly dyed black hair, looked great. I glowed. The lady took me back out front to everyone else, and they all oohed and ahhed and made stupid jokes and whistled and told me tips on how to keep the color potent. I mostly just looked at my feet as I tried not to blush. Derek took my hand and I looked up as he smiled at me. I smiled back while Shane, Joey, and Simon made kissy noises, Lacie, Angie, and Damien slapped them, and Tori gagged while Caleb and Sarah both stood impassively. After that, we split up again. Tori and Sarah moved off quickly, Shane, Joey, and Simon went over in the direction of the electronics store, and Lacie and Damien said they were gonna go buy some stuff to prank Joey with. Caleb said he wanted to go to the bookstore, and I didn't want to see him go off by himself, so I offered to go with him, and Derek and Angie jumped to go too. I grabbed a candy bar from a vendor (and paid for it, I don't steal unless it's necessary), and we headed out. We ended up just going to Borders, because the only other option was Barnes and Nobles, and while their stuff is newer and they have some stuff Borders doesn't, Borders tends to have a broader selection. Angie wander over to the manga section, and Caleb seemed to disappear into thin air (figuratively, he's not that kind of supernatural), leaving me and Derek to peruse the young adult/teen section. I found the next House of Night book I hadn't read yet, and then went to see if they had any of the Claidi journals by Tanith Lee (great books. I read them all at the library, and I've been trying to buy them so I don't have to keep going back to get them. Right now I only have # 1 and 4, but I ordered 2 and 3 on Amazon, and they should be delivered sometime this week. I can't wait. Claidi just escaped from the wolf tower with Argul, and she's going to marry him when she gets abducted on her wedding day, and Argul thinks she's left him! And then she meets Venn at the scary Rise place where she's taken, and he got the idea from another source that's she crazy and thinks that she wanted to come there. The place is scary with mechanical people and animals and hybrid species of animals, people and plants, and rooms that move on their own. And she has no idea how to get back to Argul, though for some reason Venn (whose a prince by the way) kinda reminds her of him, which makes her miss him all the more! It's such a great book. I can't wait to read it again!). Unfortunately, they didn't, and I was putting a book back when I felt hands around my waist. I shriek and kicked backward, and I heard a low grunt of pain and a curse.

"You really gotta stop doing that," Whoops. Derek. I turned and helped him up.

"Sorry! Are you hurt?"

"Not really, I'm fine. So may I resume what I started before you kicked my knee?" I turned red, and he smiled. He leaned down and kissed me. I put my hands around his neck, and he slid his around my waist. He bent me backward into a dip, and I chuckled and kissed him back. So romantic, kissing in a bookstore. We continued on like that for a minute, until Derek's head shot up abruptly, and I felt my support withdraw, and I went crashing to the floor. Moment over. I rubbed my side and sat up. Derek was looking off to his right, which was obscured in my line of sight by a bookshelf. His nostrils were flared, and her did not look happy. He smelled something. I shot off the floor and grabbed his arm.

"Derek? What's going on?" He slowly turned his head, and I saw panic in his eyes.

"Werewolves."


	9. Werewolves Return

_**The Reckoning**_ By 331

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV

Oh no. Not here. Not now. We weren't ready. Then again I don't think we'd ever be ready to be attacked by psycho scientists with guns, but, I'd really like to at least feel like we actually had a chance of getting away undamaged. Or at all, really. But we're us, so it's what we get. But why did it have to be now? Couldn't they have waited until we had some sort of weapons or something? Or at least until we were leaving.

I looked at Derek. He was still sniffing the air. He caught my arm and led me around towards the back of the bookstore.

"We have to find the others," I said. He nodded.

"Do you have a phone?" Phone! That would be so helpful in these kinds of situations. I shook my head.

"No, but I think Angie has one. How far away are the werewolves?" He sniffed the air again.

"Probably a couple stores down. Can't be sure, since the only wind in here is the air conditioning, and it's not so good with scents. We have to move. Go find Angie, I'll get Caleb and we'll meet over by the coffee stand on the left side of the store."

"Your left or mine?" He scowled.

"We're looking the same way,"

"Right, just nervous," He stared at me for a minute, hugged me quickly, then went off to find Caleb. I moved toward the manga section. Angie was sitting on the floor, back against the shelf with about seven books strewn around her. She looked up as I walked over.

"Do you know how unorganized this place is? People are so lazy, they just stick a book any old which way back on the shelf where ever they happen to be standing. It took me 10 minutes just to find the second volume of Soul Eater, while there's like twenty volume ones over here,and a volume three stuck down here. People are so........." she stopped when she saw my expression.

"Phone." I said. She took it out of her vest pocket and handed it to me. I saw Caleb's number on there, and pressed it. It rung for like 2 seconds when a strained, gruff

"Hello?" answered.

"So you found Caleb?"

"Yeah, he was in the sci fi section. You two get over here, and call Shane while I call Andrew. Hurry!" Derek hung up on me as I shoved the phone in my pocket, dropped my book with Angie's on the floor (it was the new House of Night book, Burned), grabbed her arm and made my way over to the dark head of hair sticking up above the sci fi shelves. Derek was fidgeting with anxiety, while Caleb stood perfectly still. But his eyes betrayed his illusion of calm. Derek was on the phone with Andrew, murmuring into it like it was so fragile it could snap at any moment, and probably would if Derek was squeezing as hard as I knew he would be. I went to contacts on Angie's phone, and called Shane. He picked up on the first ring.

"Angie? Get out of there now. There's werewolves."

"We know. Where are you guys?"

"Oh, it's Chloe. We're down the hall over by the movie theater. We're next to the concession stand. Is Derek with you?"

"Yeah, that's how we know about the werewolves. He's on the phone with Andrew right now. Call the others. We'll call Damien and Arabelle, and you call Sarah. Everyone else is with one of those or has already been called. Meet us by the giant snow globe in the middle building of the mall."

"No! I mean, that's where some suspicious looking supernaturals are hanging out. I saw them before, but didn't think that they might be a threat until now. We'll meet up at Macy's. We didn't come in there, so they won't be guarding it yet. Unless they're just some werewolves out for a shopping day. But there's a large possibility they're not, so don't do anything stupid. I'll call Sarah. And watch out for any people who might be following you or just look suspicious. Make a path that's hard to follow, and have Derek scout the way. We'll see you at Macy's." He hung up. I told the other's what he'd said, and Derek proceeded to call Arabelle while I called Damien. He didn't pick up until the fourth ring.

"What, Angie? We're about to totally prank Joey, and you almost gave us away!"

"Damien, it's Chloe. We have a problem."

"What kind of problem? If you need money, ask Lacie, because if you already spent all $600 on your debit cards, then you have some shopaholic issues. And I do not lend people money."

"No, nothing like that. Derek and Shane smelled werewolves, and I don't mean each other." It was silent for a minute.

"Chloe? What's going on?" It was Lacie.

"There's werewolves here that Derek and Shane don't know and―,"

"I know who they are." I looked at Derek. His eyes had gone cold, and he had screwed up his face like he had just smelled something nasty. I felt my blood turn to ice. There were only two possibilities in this situation. And Derek had said 'they'.

"Liam and Ramon." I whispered. Derek nodded. I cringed, and Caleb and Angie looked back and forth between us, confused.

"Who is it? And how do you know them?" Caleb asked, his voice dead serious. Angie just looked really scared.

"You don't know them. All you need to know is that they're bad, and don't mind hurting us." Derek was sniffing the air again.

"Hello?" I jumped, but then realized I hadn't said anything to Lacie. I put the phone back up to my ear.

"I'm back. Derek and I know who the werewolves are, but that doesn't make things any less dangerous, except that we know for a fact they're here for us. Shane should be even more cautious, because I bet they could use him in the same way they could use Derek. Find Shane and the others, and stay together. We'll meet up with you at Macy's."

"We're already here with them. But Chloe, what do you mean by how they could use Shane? And how do you know them?" Derek looked impatiently at me. I spoke quickly.

"We don't have time to explain. Just find the others and get to Macy's." I hung up before she could answer. Derek led us out of the bookstore. We split up to walk on different sides of the hall, me with Derek and Angie with Caleb. This way, if Liam and Ramon found us, at least Caleb and Angie could get away unnoticed. But we still stayed close. Derek stopped and sniffed every 20-40 feet or so, but hid it by ruffling through his bag, or tying his shoe, or pretending to drop something. We'd made it about 10 stores down before Derek paled, and said

"Run." I signaled to Angie, and both pairs of us off sprinting down opposite sides of the hall. We tried not to hit people, but came pretty close to tripping or crashing a lot. We apologized quickly to those we jostled, but kept on running. Derek led us into Kohl's, and we grabbed a couple of random items and dashed for the dressing room. The lady handed us those item card things and though she protested, we all dashed into a stall on the men's side. Derek sniffed the air again.

"Where are they?"

"In the kids department."

"If we take the back out through the furniture department, and use the escalator, we can double back and get to Macy's." Caleb said. Derek shook his head.

"They'd follow us. They're tracking my scent. The only way for you guys to get there safely is for me t―,"

"Don't you finish that sentence. You're crazy if you think we'll let you go out there alone. And besides, they know they only way to get to you is through me, and they know my scent, too. So either way, the only one they'll follow is me," Derek scowled at me, but he knew I had a point.

"Fine. Caleb, you and Angie head to the escalator and make your way to Macy's. We'll keep Angie's phone, and you have yours back. We'll lead them away, and we'll head over to the food court, and you have everyone else meet us there with the cars. Hopefully we'll make it. Make sure you stick to Shane, and in a mall this big, running is always better than fighting." They nodded, but their faces said they didn't like it. Even though they knew this was the best option we had. Derek sniffed again. His eyes widened and he pushed us out of the stall door and we bolted for the exit. I looked back, and I swore I saw a familiar, blood curdling face among the clothing racks. Derek pushed me to go faster, and I turned my attention back to running. When we were safely out of the store, Angie and Caleb shot down the hall to our right, towards the escalator. Derek herded me down the left passageway, and we dodged grumpy shoppers as we sprinted for our lives. We ducked into a two door-ed store. We jumped over the racks of clothing and ran out the other side. It led us into the central building of the mall. We came to a balcony and looked down. There were a lot of people just milling around, but if you looked closely, you could see there were some people who just didn't quite fit into the picture. They were situated in groups of two or three, trying not to look conspicuous, but that kinda made it all the more obvious. They looked like they were trying too hard, which made them easy to spot if you were looking for them. They usually had one of them with a cellphone to their ear, which meant they were constantly communicating, and that if we were spotted, all of them would know exactly when and where. The Edison Group. Derek grabbed my arm and pulled me off to the right. We ducked down one of the less crowded pathways, and sprinted across to the bathrooms, one of the one's with more two or three exits. But it was empty, which meant it would be bad if we were found in here. Derek pulled me along, and we were about to exit through the southernmost door, when Derek stopped abruptly. I followed his line of sight, and my heart stopped. Liam was staring at us from across the passageway. Derek spun me around quick and we headed for the northeast exit, when Ramon stepped out from around the corner. There was a third exit, but it was past Ramon down another row of stalls. Derek pushed me into a stall and stood in front of it. Ramon made a step forward, and Derek growled. He laughed a harsh, guttural laugh, and Liam's rasp echoed from the other door.

"Well, if it isn't just the two we wanted to see." His raspy voice did not mix well with his southern accent. I tried to keep breathing, but my wind pipe felt like it was shrinking to about the width of a toothpick. Derek was holding onto the stall door so tightly, his knuckles turned white, and I thought he was gonna break it off.

"What do you want?" Derek growled, but they just laughed again, with a bit of a bitter ending.

"What we want is you. If I remember correctly, the Pack still wants us for man-eating, and last time you agreed to come with us, but then annoyingly chickened out and ran away. I'm sure the Pack would love to get a hold of you, considering what we, I mean you, did." Ramon leered at us, and Derek just glared back. Liam spoke.

" And your girlfriend there. Seems like you're still together. How cute. I promise I won't let you leave without a fun night with me, okay cutie?" I swore I barfed a little in my mouth, but I didn't have enough strength from the fear to really worry about that at the moment. Plus, I was already in a bathroom stall, so I was covered. Liam just chuckled menacingly.

" Apparently, girly, more people than just us really seem to have take a liking to you, and they'd pay a bunch of money to get you back. We're just supposed to deliver you safely into their hands. But then again, my leg's been sore lately, thank you for that, by the way," Liam grinned garishly straight at me, which made my skin crawl. I remembered how I stabbed him last time we met. He chuckled again as I looked away shuddering.

"And," he continued, "I don't think we're gonna let you go without playing with you a bit. Just so we're even." He took a step closer, and Derek moved little in his direction, growling louder. Ramon did the same, and Derek lunged at him. He caught Ramon head on, pushing him to the ground in cloud of whirling limbs. Liam came straight at me and I lashed out with my foot. It struck him in the face, and he cursed, stepping back, so I tackled him. He was a lot harder than I thought, so I got the wind knocked out of me as we toppled to the floor. I landed on top of him, and he tried to claw my eyes, but I jumped up and stomped on his knee. He howled in pain, and I tried to stomp on his face, but he caught my foot and pulled me down. He got up and held me aloft by the ankle, and I tried to wriggle out his grasp, but he kicked the back of my skull, and I saw black spots. I tried kicking him with my other leg, and I caught him in the groin, forcing him to drop me. I landed face first, and I saw more black dots in my vision. He kicked my head again, and I hit the wall with a crack. I put my arms around my head and groaned in pain, and when I brought my hands back down, they were covered in blood. My vision had gotten worse with the hit, but at least the pain hadn't hit yet.

"Chloe!" Derek yelled. I turned to see his vague shape lunge and crash into Liam's fuzzy outline, who had been right behind me, and sent him sprawling. Ramon was on the floor behind them, seemingly out for the moment, but I saw small movements around where his arms would be if I could see clearly, so I assumed he probably was conscious, just couldn't get up. When my sight came back, I got up and walked over to Ramon. He tried to grab my foot, but I stomped on his hand, and he shrieked. I thrust my foot into where his head and neck connected, and he flew across the room and landed with a crack. And didn't get up, his blood pooling on the floor. I heard a howl of pain and whipped around. Derek was on his back, underneath Liam, who was trying to jab a knife into his eye. I looked around for anything I could use to help. There was nothing that wasn't bolted down, so I just ran over an punched Liam's gut. He faltered long enough for Derek to kick him off, and Derek grabbed me and sped us toward the exit. We headed toward the thickest crowd we could find. The people closest to us gasped and backed away as they saw the blood dripping from the gash on the back of my head, and Derek's black eye and all the cuts from Liam's knife that had thankfully missed his eye (though I don't think Ramon's fist missed it), but we ignored them and kept running into the throng of shoppers. Eventually people made a path for us because of the blood, which gave me a chance to look back without the possibility of hitting someone. And what I saw wasn't good. Liam was pushing people aside to get to us, and he did not look all that happy, especially that the bruise over his eyebrow made it impossible to not look angry. And his bloodshot eye did not look too pretty either, plus the scowl added to the whole 'I'm fucking mad, and I'm going to kill you" expression, which would probably happen if he caught us. And then to add to our complications, apparently we had alerted the mall cops, and they were coming up the passageway to our right, from the fork in the passage that was coming up in front of us (no, they didn't have Segways). They didn't look like they were coming to our rescue either. So Derek averted course and led me down the passage to the left. We sprinted around people, heading for anywhere but here. And then........ we hit the dead end. The only thing that was there were a couple of those one room boutiques, and a Lord and Taylor's that was under construction, so it was closed and locked. We were on the ground floor, and the nearest escalator or even set of stairs was in the Lord and Taylor's, so the only way out was the way we came in. I turned to see Liam and the mall cops sprinting down the passage toward us, and all the shoppers, seeing the commotion, were running for the safety of the little boutiques leaving me and Derek completely exposed in the middle of the circle of stores. Derek placed himself between me and the oncoming threats, and against my will, my eyes started tearing up. Either get arrested by mall cops who wouldn't understand, and possibly call loads of people to find out who we are, or, get ripped to shreds by Liam before we had a chance to even get arrested. Why us? Why?!?

Liam got to us first. Apparently he didn't care about being arrested or causing a scene, he just wanted to make sure we were hurt enough that he could drag us back to the Pack and the Edison group. He lunged at Derek, who pushed me back and caught Liam's impact face first. They were on the ground, rolling again, just like last time. Except this time I didn't have a pocket knife to stab Liam with. They moved too fast for me to grasp what was going on, and I didn't notice the mall cop until it was too late, because I was trying to understand who was where and find a way to help Derek.

I was grabbed from behind by strong arms, but I had dealt with enough bad guys to know by his hold that the guy thought I was just a helpless victim, so I kicked him in the groin. He gasped in pain and I struggled out of his grasp. My head throbbed, and I felt dizzy, probably from all the blood loss. Derek had Liam against a pillar and was punching him, but then Liam's leg lashed out, catching Derek in the jaw. He fell to the ground with a gasp of pain.

"DEREK!" I screamed, and ran towards them. Liam was standing over him, and had a look in his eye I didn't like at all. I spied something on the ground, and knew what I had to do. I picked it up and ran at Liam, shoving his own blade deep into his thigh, in exactly the same place I had three days ago. He screamed in pain, and backed away clutching his wound, trying to remove the knife. I rushed over to Derek and bent to see if he was okay. His jaw was twisted at an odd angle, and I knew it was broken. I hoped Sarah or Mike would be able to fix it. That is, if we ever got out of here to see them again. I was helping him up as I felt another set of hands grip my waist and pull me back. I shrieked and kicked behind me, but the hands didn't let go. Derek tried to get up, but two cops pounced and held him down. We were caught. They guy holding me was a cop (because if it was Liam I would be dead by now), and though I kept struggling, some of the fear left me (not all, because them asking questions could bring up further problems, ones that could put a lot of people in danger). A crowd had accumulated, and they watched as we were dragged off by mall security. They had knocked Liam out, probably with those black but thin club things the cops had slung on their belts, and two huge officers were carrying him. They had Derek firmly by the arms, but he was walking, which made me feel a bit better (but not much). The led us past the judgmental and totally clueless crowd off shoppers off to what I assumed was the mall cop headquarters. It looked more like a bunch of offices except with some video monitors and a small closet for uniforms. They sat us down on hard, uncomfortable chairs, and had one of them stand next to each of us, so leaving wasn't an option. They laid Liam across three chairs, and had a guard next to him too. Most of the other cops left, but our guards and one hot headed looking guy stayed. He seemed to be in charge. He paced back and forth in front of us, then stopped in front of me. I think I saw steam come out his ears.

"What the hell is going on here?!?" He glared at me, since I was the only one who could answer, being the only conscious person with a working jaw. I think Derek tried to growl, but he cut it off with a whimper of pain at the reflex of using his broken jaw. I didn't respond. The head cop got angrier.

"ANSWER ME! I demand to know what the hell drove you to cause a bloodbath in the middle of my mall!" I leaned back in surprise, and the chair fell back. The guard caught me and set me back up. The chief continued pacing.

"You are going to tell me what is going on right now, or we're going to sit here and wait until you decide you want stop the blood loss coming from your head and his jaw." I looked at Derek, and he tried to mime something to me, which I took as 'make something up!'. I took a deep breath.

"We were minding our own business, just shopping, when this guy jumped out of nowhere and attacked us. He cut me with his knife, but my friend here managed to get him off long enough for us to run. He chased us through the mall, and then down that dead end, and lunged on my friend, and then you saw the rest." I didn't trust the cop any more than I trusted Liam, so I though it better not to say our names. The cop frowned. He put his face directly in front of mine.

"Now, why don't I believe that?" I leaned back so he wasn't as up in my face. He stood back up, still angry.

"Maybe's its because the video cameras tell us a different story? I don't know, lets find out, shall we?" They rolled out a TV with an extension cord leading back to the room with the video monitors. They had us on tape since all the way back at the book store, and in Kohl's, and even in the bathroom with Ramon. Thankfully, there was no audio, so they didn't know what we had talked about, and I bet they hadn't been paying attention to these until the fight in the bathroom, and were just trying to get me to confess our real motive. I didn't respond again. The chief cop roared in frustration, making me jump, and I scrambled off my chair toward the back wall. Derek jumped up with me, but I think it was more of a protective thing than surprise at the cop. Our guards rushed after us to pull us back to our seats, but stopped, looking at something above my head on the wall. I turned, and my stomach dropped to my feet.

They were staring at a missing girl poster, that had the name Chloe Saunders plastered across the top, and a reward of half a million dollars printed across the bottom. And the guards kept looking between me and the poster, open mouthed. I guess the dye didn't work after all. Oh hell.

Hope you enjoyed it! But you'll have to wait til I write the next chapter to find out what happens! This is to make up for not updating for a whole two weeks! It annoys me when I have to wait for other stories, but now I kinda see the writer's side, so I feel guilty. But not that much. Because I don't think everybody's brother broke his collarbone. But my goal is to have at least one chapter per week. So unless something comes up, like my parents confiscate my computer, or we go on a trip and I can't bring my laptop, or something bad, I'll try to update every week on either Saturday or Sunday (sometimes I stay up til like one writing and then update, so if you don't see it Sunday night, it'll probably be up Monday morning.). And sometimes I might have a day off from school, or just have no homework and have free time, so I'll write more. But the only days you should really rely on are Saturday night through Monday morning. I might update again before the weekly update this weekend if I don't get much homework tomorrow and Thursday, so cross your fingers! REVIEW! :)


	10. Power Fueled by Anger

_**The Reckoning**_ By 331

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV

This is a big problem. Shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit. The guards were still gaping at me, dead silent. Derek slid himself in between me and them. The chief cop was the first one to come to his senses.

"One of you grab her! Someone else, go call the state police, we found the half a million dollar kid!" The guards started to advance, as the chief ran to the office for the phone. Derek would have growled, but then settled for stepping forward in warning in order to not irritate his jaw but still protect me. Just at that moment, the cellphone in my pocket rang. I had totally forgotten I had it. Derek kept glaring at the guards, who stayed back, looking wary, as I answered.

"Chloe?! Where are you? We've been circling the parking lot outside the food court for like half an hour! And been trying to reach you for at least half that! What happened?"

It was Simon. I was relieved to know they had made it out to the car okay, but that didn't help me and Derek right now.

"We got attacked by Liam and Ramon, and then arrested by mall cops. And they have a missing Chloe sign!" There was a pause as Simon relayed this to the others.

"Chloe? Where are you now?" It was Andrew.

"Mall cop HQ! And the guards are getting closer! But don't all of you come in, because Liam's still here and the Edison Group is camped out in the main building. Send an adult and maybe one or two of you. And a shaman, because Derek broke his jaw. The HQ is in the southern building, next to Hollister and Old Navy. Hurry!"

"We're coming. Don't do anything stupid and don't die." And with that he hung up. The guards were coming up quick, and I knew as soon as someone hit his jaw, Derek would be down. So I whispered something into his ear, an nodded and put his fingers in them. Then I screamed. The guards jumped, giving us the chance to slip past them. Almost. One grabbed my arm as were about to get out, and practically pulling my arm out of its socket, causing a real scream. But this time the guards didn't jump. They gathered around me and held me so I couldn't struggle. Derek jumped in and starting ripping them off me with his new adrenaline/anger fueled strength, and he pulled me out and into his arms, picking me up and running for the door. The guards scrambled after, shouting

"Kidnapper! Get the kidnapper and save the $500,000 girl!" like they were robots and had to say what they were doing out loud. Derek was really sprinting now, and a couple of overweight men and lazy teenagers were no match for his speed. Unfortunately, he also didn't concentrate on where we were going, just listening to his 'get out' instinct. Because we ran right into the middle of the main building. And immediately, I saw groups of people heading in our direction, all with little phones in their ears, and probably hiding guns in their pockets. We had run straight into the Edison Group's hands.

Derek swore, and tried to turn back, but there were more EG minions behind us too. And the mall cops were huffing and puffing their way here, and weren't that far away. Just then the fire alarm sounded, but I bet there wasn't even a fire, just a convenient way for the Edison group to empty the building. And the fact that all of them didn't rush for the doors like everyone else, confirmed that. The cops ignored it too, making their out-of- shape way here. Derek and I prepared to fight. I took out Liam's knife, and used my powers to search for any nearby corpses. As it turns out, it seemed there was a couple, some probably some of the roadkill on the parking lot, and one big one, that felt vaguely human, and I hoped to god it wasn't Ramon. I mean, by now, if no one had found him, he'd probably bled to death, but the mall cops had watched the bathroom fight on video, and noticed when he had gone down, so they should have picked him up and bandaged him or something. Or they could have found his body. I tried to think positive, but in this situation, nothing came to mind. One of the Edison Group members stepped forward. It was Dr. Davidoff. He gave us that annoying, condescending smile.

"Derek, Chloe, how nice to see you again." the feeling wasn't mutual. But I said nothing, and Derek couldn't (and wouldn't even if he could), so we just glared.

"Now, don't go thinking about this the wrong way. We don't want to hurt you, we just want to help. Now, if you would please come with us―,"

"No." He jumped, and looked around to make sure it wasn't someone else talking. Apparently he didn't think cute little Chloe was capable of sounding strong and defiant. But I didn't want to be cute little Chloe anymore. Not after what they'd done to us, and what they put us through. I wanted to end this now.

Another of the members stepped up behind Davidoff and pushed him aside and glared at us. Mrs. Enright.

"My God, Davidoff, just shut up. You're not going to get anywhere like that, the only way to get through to them is through force. Now, you annoying brats, if you don't come with us, I blast your heads off. How does that sound?" she smiled gruesomely. It made my anger grow. I hated her more than Davidoff. She was the one who drove Tori mad, which caused her to behave bitchily to the rest of us and be hurt inside. She killed Liz, and Brady, and probably a bunch of other failed experiments, and had already tried to kill me. And now she wanted to kill both me and Derek.

"No? Well then, I'll give you one last chance. If you get caught by the guards, I won't blast you, but if you try to run, you're dead." Davidoff's expression said he didn't like this idea, because apparently you need to be alive to be experimented on. But Diane didn't even look at him, but signaled to the mob of people around us. They all rushed in at once. I closed my eyes hoping that by some chance Derek had learned how to fly. I felt Derek hold me close to him, then move. But we were going.........up?

"Hey guys! Need some help?" I opened my eyes to see Angie on one of the upper floors, using her power too float us up.

"Shoot them!" I heard Diane yell it, and I turned to see her muttering an incantation, looking straight at us. But she was tackled by.....Andrew! He and her were struggling on the floor, and I looked back at the guards. They were shooting at us, but thankfully, they missed. Everyone was here. Which was good, but bad. I told them to only bring a couple of people and a shaman. Angie put us down outside the war zone, behind a pillar. Mike was there, and he healed Derek's jaw, and sealed up the gash on the back of my head. My dead animals and human had arrived by now. There was three squirrels, two dogs, a fox, four cats, and ….....Ramon. I almost threw up when I saw him, but I held it down and focused on using them to fight. I told them all the people on our side, and then that they could attack anyone else who was in there fighting. They went off about their job, and I heard a couple screams as they were spotted. I smiled. Payback. But weren't done yet. I noticed Derek was pushing me toward the door.

"Um, Derek, the battle's over there."

"I know."

"Then why are we......I'm not skipping this fight, Derek!"

'Yes, you are. You had a lot of blood loss, and when they see all those animals, and.....Ramon....out there, they'll want you even more. I'm sorry, but you're staying here," I think I rather liked it when he was mute. I stopped moving, and he frowned.

"Derek, if you get to fight, I get to fight. I was experimented on, just like you, and just because I was hurt a little, does not mean I'm incapable of using my powers. All our friends are out there fighting because of us, and I'm not just gonna sit back and watch. And besides, I'm not letting you go out there with out me. So stop pushing me!" he sighed, and stopped.

"I know, it's just...........if you got hurt.......,"

"I can't guarantee I won't, but I'm pretty sure I always try not to. And its not like you're the only one who feels like that. I worry about you too. But that doesn't excuse us leaving our friends to fight by themselves." I smiled up at him, and he sighed again.

" Damn, I hate it when you're right. Fine, but don't get anywhere near Diane Enright."

"I'll try," I reached up and kissed him, and he put his arms around my waist and pulled me in closer. It was a more aggressive kiss than usual, but the prospect of losing each other made us go all out. I put my arms around his neck, and pushed one last time, then came down. He smiled at me, then set off towards the battle. I looked to see where my dead minions had gone. Most of the animals were just fighting the lackeys, but a squirrel and a dog were on top of Davidoff, and he was screaming like a little girl. Tori and Caleb were taking on Mrs. Enright, and the rest were spread out beating up people. I was about to join them, when I was grabbed from behind.

"I got her!" The mall cop was speaking into a walkie-talkie.

"Good, bring her back to HQ," was the reply. I lashed out, but the mall cop had me tight. I screamed.

"Derek!" He was back in a flash, a punching the cop in the face. He fell to the floor with a thump, unconscious. I looked back at Derek, and he was frowning with his arms crossed.

"What? I didn't see him coming! It was just a little slip! I'm fine! No injuries whatsoever!" He still frowned at me, but then shook his head and went back to pry a beefy looking EG member off Simon. I pulled out Ramon's knife and went to help Angie and Lacie. Lacie was spewing fireballs, and using her levitating powers to make them chase people. Angie was flying, and lifting two members at a time and throwing them into things. When they landed, if they got back up, I'd either stab them, or kick them until they were unconscious. I saw Damien, and he had taken control of a swarm of dead bats, and was using them to attack any bad guys that came near. Joey, being goofy as usual, was making some members dance like Egyptians over in a corner. Upside down on the ceiling. Shane yelled at him and told him to drop them on to the floor so he could take them out. Joey did, and Shane pounced on them, changing in midair (apparently its a lot easier when your genes haven't been messed with) and landing on them as a tan wolf. Sarah and Mike knew karate, and using it to their advantage. Arabelle was using her telekinetic abilities to predict her opponents moves before hand and then out maneuver them, and Anna was having plants attack people. Simon and Derek were working together, Simon's small fireballs and Derek's strength, and Andrew was facing off with Davidoff. Tori and Caleb were still trying to weaken Mrs. Enright. Despite how good it sounded, we were severely outnumbered. And not to mention the fact that if the mall cops ever made their way here, the supernatural world would be exposed or they'd end up being killed, by accident or to prevent the previous outcome. Tori and Caleb looked like they were losing, and Mrs. Enright seemed to have decided to end it. She shot Caleb with a bolt of blue lightning, and he went flying. He hit a pillar, and fell to the ground. Tori shot a giant purple fireball at her, but she dodged and threw lots of small black balls of energy back towards Tori. She evaded most of them but one hit her in the arm, and she let out a blood curdling scream, and fell to the floor, clutching it. I pulled the knife out of the guy I'd just stabbed in the leg, and ran towards them, calling all my dead animals back to me. I came up behind Mrs. Enright and was about to stab her, when she turned around and caught me in a binding spell.

"You're not that good, you little brat," she pulled the knife from my frozen grasp, and then held the blade to my neck.

"Even though you are quite powerful, I regret to say you are no longer needed." She was about to slit my throat, when I heard a gut wrenching growl. Mrs. Enright went flying away from me, a jet black wolf pinning her to the ground. But before she landed, she shot out a sphere of swirling red energy, which hit me head on. I flew backward up to the wall thing between the first and second floor, and I was stuck there (the middle of the room is open all the way to the 4th floor ceiling, so the higher floors are like balconies that circle the entire room. I hit the wall part that connected the first and second floors/the balcony railing-ish thing). I couldn't move my arms and legs, it was like I was glued to the wall. I looked down, and saw the wolf on top of Mrs. Enright, trying to chew her face, while she struggled to keep it from doing so. I realized the wolf was Derek, trying to stop her from hurting me. But then she screamed

"Get off me, you stupid mutt!" and stabbed him in the chest with the knife she had taken from me. Derek fell off her onto the floor, into a pool of blood. My heart exploded. All I could feel was despair. Crushing, painful despair. It enveloped my entire body, and turned to hate. I heard a scream, and realized it was me. 

"DEREK!" Everyone had stopped fighting to look at something. But I didn't care. All I cared about was Derek. He was dead. But he couldn't be. Not now. Not like this. Why?!?! Why him?!?! Why couldn't it have been me?! My anger and hate at Mrs. Enright was coming to a boiling point. Then everything inside me just shut down. I only knew one thing. I had to kill _**her**_. The evil bitch who'd killed Derek. And I had to do it now. My vision tinged red, and all I could see was her ugly as sin piece of shit of a face that was _**her**_. My whole body felt tingly, and suddenly my arms were free. I felt a rush of energy surge into them, and then two red giant arms of energy burst out. They pulsed and jolted, full of my rage, and the shot toward Mrs. Enright. I enjoyed seeing the look of sheer terror on her face as they grabbed her and brought her up to the same level as me. I smiled at her pain as I tightened the energy's grip on her. She was screaming and flailing, but I just wanted to revel in her pain. In the pain of the person who had killed Derek. The pain of the person who deserved to die.

"_**You killed Derek, so now I'll kill you,**_" my voice came out like I was possessed by a demon, like my voice with a deeper, scary voice underneath, talking at the same time. She just kept staring at me with a scared look, which made me angrier. I screamed as a pulse of anger and hatred shot through my body, and it sent out a wave of necromantic energy. Ghosts started appearing everywhere and all the dead animals started howling or squeaking. Ramon just stood still, waiting for my command. The ghosts kept coming, until they started to fill up the whole space. And I noticed everyone could see them, and started freaking out. At that point, a small part of my brain realized what the hell I was doing, and shouted at me to stop. But then I looked at Mrs. Enright, and my hatred retook control. The ghosts started swarming around her, and she started screaming again. I heard the others yelling at me to stop, but I didn't care anymore. All I cared about was killing the person who'd taken Derek away. Who'd killed him. I tightened and tightened my grip, and Mrs. Enright kept screaming and screaming, and the ghosts swarmed around and around, howling and shrieking. Then I screamed again, and all the ghosts surged into Mrs. Enright. Her eyes turned red, and when all the ghosts came back out, following them was a trail of black smoke, coming out of her mouth and eyes. And I dropped her to the floor. Then I heard it.

"Chloe!" I gasped, and fell, and I landed someone's arms. I looked up, straight into shining green eyes.

"......Derek!" and I blacked out.

_**Hey guys! I'm beginning another story plz read it! I'm gonna add some really good stuff in chapter 2, so plz read and review! And I promise to update this story by at least next Sunday! Review!!!! **_


	11. Taltheranian

_**The Reckoning**_ By 331

OMG!!!! you guys are gonna love this!!!! its mostly in Derek's POV, with a little Chloe in the beginning. I hope you guys freak out!!!! oh, and I might not be able to update for a little while, because I'm in a play, and its this weekend, so I stay at school until like 9, but my parents don't let me bring my laptop to school. So I might squeeze in a small chapter next Sunday night, but it will probably be the second chapter of my other story, because I didn't get around to updating that this week. But if I can, I will write the next chapter soon. Cross your fingers!!!! enjoy and review!!!!!

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV

When I woke up, my whole body ached. I kept my eyes closed, and just moved a bit to feel where I was. I was under a blanket, and there was a pillow under my head, so I assumed I was either on a couch or in a bed. I tried to sit up, but it hurt too much, so I settled for opening my eyes. I was staring up at a white ceiling, the kind that's found in most bedrooms, just plan white. I heard a light snore, and I twitched my head to the left, and saw Derek. My hearts stopped. He was alive!

"Derek!" He jerked up, startled.

"What? What?" I grabbed his legs and hugged them really tight. He calmed, and hugged me back. I was crying I was so happy. He bent down and hugged my for real when I let go of his legs. Then he sat back in the chair.

"So you're okay?" I was too busy staring at him and his aliveness to realize he was talking to me. He wasn't wearing a shirt, which made him all the more beautiful, being able to see his perfect muscles and flawless skin and no scar on his chest whatsoever.

"Chloe?" still ogling. I think I might have been drooling.

"Chloe!" I heard the fear in his voice and snapped back to reality.

"What?"

"So you're okay, right?" I nodded and he relaxed. And that's when the rest of my memory came back. For the moment I had remembered only that Derek had died. I gasped, seeing it all. Being attacked by Liam and Ramon, Liam battling us in the middle of the mall, Derek breaking his jaw (wince), getting caught by mall cops, them realizing who I was, running away from mall cop HQ, straight into the hands of the EG (Edison Group), Diane Enright threatening to kill us, the war of supernaturals, Derek dying (wince) to save me (wince), then after that a lot of red, filled with pain and anger, and the freakishly sharp memory of squeezing Diane Enright to death. And watching all that black smoke pour out her eyes. It hurt just to remember. When I had finished, I noticed Derek staring at me intently, fear in his eyes. His beautiful green eyes. That had almost died. I was crying again. Derek had been dead (at least I had thought so for a small amount of time) and because I couldn't control myself, or my powers, I had killed someone. Even if that someone was a psycho killing bitch that deserved to die, I was a murderer. I pulled Derek back in for another hug, and cried on his shoulder. He just rubbed my back, comforting me. I thought I heard someone open the door. I looked up, and I screamed. It was Diane Enright. And I fainted.

….............................................................................................................................................................................................

Derek's POV (before this last part, back at the mall.)

My chest hurt like hell. I felt myself changing back, but that pain was nothing compared to this. Luckily, I felt that she had missed my organs when she stabbed me, only getting the muscles in my shoulder and side. But that didn't stop my chest from feeling the pain too. I heard a heart wrenching scream. CHLOE! I opened my eyes and looked up. I was hit with a weird wave of energy, and for a second I couldn't feel my body. Necromantic energy. I stood up, someone handed me some pants, and I took them. I think it was Andrew, but I didn't care. All I could think about was Chloe. Where was she? I heard another scream, not Chloe's, and looked up. Chloe was.......I don't know what she was. My blood turned to ice at the sight. She was glued to the wall in between the floors, not on the ground, and her body was covered in some kind of red, translucent, glow. It pulsed and a wave of red energy flowed over her every ten seconds. Her eyes were solid red, yet darker than the glow. But her hands were what scared me most of all. The energy had cascaded down them and shot out across to the middle of the room, pulsing and flowing energy. They were holding something up in the air, and I realized it was a person. Diane Enright. She was screaming and struggling, and I saw the energy hands tighten around her body. Chloe screamed again, and she shot out another wave of necromantic energy. Then figures started appearing everywhere. I looked around at everyone else, and they were all stone still, EG and our group alike, just staring up at Chloe. But when the figures started appearing, people started screaming and freaking out. I couldn't move. Chloe was in pain! And I couldn't do anything to stop it. I wanted to scream at her to stop, I wanted to stop her pain, so she could smile and I could hold her hand and kiss her whenever I wanted, and do anything for her. But I couldn't. I was frozen. Chloe screamed, and I wanted to rip out my heart it was hurting so much. But then, reacting to the scream, all the figures (ghosts, I realized) flew straight at Diane Enright. And they kept going. They went inside her. She stopped struggling, and just froze in midair, but not like she was dead, just like she had turned into a frozen spike. Then the ghosts poured back out, and trailing behind them was some kind of smoke or smog. It was black, and was pouring out of her eyes and mouth. The pulsing energy hands let her go, and she fell to the floor. I finally found my body again, and I sprinted forward.

"CHLOE!" I heard a gasp, and all the red left her, and she fell down off the wall. I caught her just before she hit the floor. She felt like she was going to crumble to dust in my arms, she was so frail. She looked weakly up at me.

"........Derek?" and then she fainted. I felt fear coursing through me. Was she dead? She had just let out an enormous amount of power, that no one else had ever done before, so I knew it was possibly. I shakily checked her pulse. I relaxed. She was still alive, just unconscious. I looked up, to see the Edison Group running for their lives. Apparently we had won. The others were rushing up to us, and Mike healed the stab wound on my chest, making it easier to breathe, because every breath before had caused my chest to move, making the wound hurt.. The rest asked me if everything was okay, was Chloe okay, what the hell happened, how did she do that, and more, but I couldn't focus. Andrew shepherded us all back to the cars, and I rode alone with him and Chloe in one car, while the others smushed into the two remaining cars. I laid her head on my lap, and buckled the seat belt around her waist. She looked so......beautiful. I can't describe just how wonderful she looked. I stared at her the whole ride back. When we arrived, I carried her into the house, into one of the spare bedrooms. Looking at her there, on the white bedsheets, she looked so small. I sat down next to her bed. I just couldn't leave her side, it felt wrong. Every time I tried, I felt like I needed to go back, that something was going to happen if I wasn't there beside her. Even when Andrew told me to come out because he had something he needed to explain to me, I felt the need to turn around, but I restrained it. I followed him out of the room grudgingly. And what I saw made anger flare up inside me. Diane Enright. I snarled.

"What the HELL is SHE doing HERE?!?!" I tried to lunge at her, but Shane pulled me back.

"Dude, its alright. She's on our side." WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?!?!?!?!?!?!?! AFTER ALL THE THINGS SHE DID I'M SUPPOSED TO BELIEVE SHE'S ON OUR SIDE NOW?!?!?! NO FUCKING WAY!!!!

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?!?! THAT BITCH TRIED TO KILL US!!!!!!!!!" I snarled again, and she cowered. I was surprised. She wasn't the type to be afraid of me. But I regained my anger and snarled again. Shane kept a firm hold on my shoulders.

"Let Andrew explain." Shane said, and I turned slowly toward Andrew.

"She's on our side now." Andrew looked like he was using all his strength to not show his fear. I hated it. I wanted to rip Diane's throat out, but Shane was just as strong as I was. He pushed me down onto the couch next to Simon, who was gripping the armrest, his knuckles white. Tori sat next to him. You'd think she'd be the one that needed to be restrained. But, she was just, frozen. Her eyes had this dead look, and she was staring straight at her mother like her brain had fried while she had been trying to comprehend something. Andrew sternly looked at me.

"The reason Mrs. Enright is with us is because of a huge misunderstanding."

"You got that right. Why don't you let me rip her to pieces so we don't have to deal with her anymore. Besides, isn't she supposed to be _dead_?!" Andrew stayed calm and dead serious, which annoyed me.

"You see, when Chloe's powers went out of control and attacked her, and that black smoke came out, it wasn't killing her, like it was probably meant to, but it was killing the evil soul inside her."

"And I repeat, isn't she supposed to be _dead_? Chloe killed the evil soul, so she should have died, why is she still _alive_?" I turned and snarled at her again, and she paled. She was sitting in an armchair on the other side of the room. She was damn lucky I wasn't free right now, because if I was, she would already be dead, like she was _supposed_ to be.

"She was possessed." My brain turned to mush. Everything started to malfunction, and my brain exploded (figuratively). **She had been possessed**?!?!? How?!?! By who?!?!? And for how long?!?!?!!? and I still hated her, regardless if she was possessed or not. I bet she was possessed by the ambition to kill us all. Or experiment on us until we wanted to die. And I couldn't stand it. I tried to lunge at her, but Shane pulled me back again, and this time joey came to help him. I was not happy. Not happy at all. Andrew continued.

"She was taken over by the spirit of Samuel Lyle, the founder of the Lyle house, and the founder of the Edison Group. He took over her body the first year she joined the group, before she got pregnant with Tori. Her and a EG necromancer were summoning up Samuel Lyle to talk to him about his experiments and any discoveries he made, when he took over her body. He didn't take the necromancer's body because he would just banished him, but Mrs. Enright was not so lucky. She has been possessed for 16 years, and had no control over anything she ever said or did. Tori was made as an experiment of Lyle's, with Kit Bae's DNA, and that was the only reason she came to be. Of course, Mrs. Enright might have wanted to have children eventually, on her own terms, but instead she was forced into giving birth to Tori. But that doesn't mean she never loved Tori, even if she could never show it. So essentially, Chloe didn't kill Mrs. Enright. She killed Samuel Lyle's soul, or at least banished him someplace he can't come back from. And Mrs. Enright wants to do everything she can to make up for the things Samuel Lyle did with her body." My jaw had dropped to the floor. But I recovered quickly, thinking of other possibilities.

"How do we know she's not lying?"

"We don't, but we're going to keep her here and make sure she doesn't do anything that might say she's still with the Edison Group. But for now, all we can do is trust what she says is true." I didn't like this. I didn't like this at all. I looked over at Simon. He had gone all pale.

"Tori's........... my.......half.......... sister?" I just realized that and jumped. Ew. Well, at least they didn't date. Tori was having a similar reaction, but to different news.

"I was just.....an experiment..........of a dead guy........... in a woman's body?" Okay, that was just disturbing. Lots of images were burned into my mind I really could've lived without. I still didn't know what to think, so I got up, and headed in the direction of Chloe's room. I looked at Diane Enright. She was sitting meekly in a chair, looking scared to death, looking at Tori with sympathy and love in her eyes. It was so surprising I almost puked, but managed to hide my gag in cough, and went back to Chloe. I instantly felt better once I saw here, but she still wasn't awake, which worried me. I sat down next to her bed, and held her hand in both of mine. It felt small, but warm. I laid my head down on the bed, and tried to think things through. This was all crazy. There was no way I was believing that murdering bitch's story full'o'crap. Soon as I knew Chloe was okay, I was going to go kick Diane Enright's head til she lay unconscious, then I was gonna throw her body off a cliff. Everyone would thank me for being alive later. I then I waited next to Chloe's bed for hours, keeping her safe, hoping she would wake up. Mike came in and examined her, and he said she was fine, just exhausted from using do much power. She'd probably wake up in a couple hours. Tomorrow by the latest. I kissed her forehead, hoping she would be fine when she woke up. Eventually I drifted off to sleep, with my head on her bed, both my hands clasping her small left one.

I felt movement, but it was probably just my dream, so I didn't bother waking up. But then someone screamed in my ear.

"Derek!" Chloe! I jumped up, and scanned the room for danger.

"What? What?" I felt something wrap around my legs. I looked down, and saw Chloe hugging me, crying onto my legs. I hugged her back as best I could without bending my knees, and comforted her so she would stop crying. But then she moved back, and I bent down for a real hug. Her hair smelled like some sort of fruit. Kiwi mango, maybe. I hugged her tight, reveling in her smell and the fell of her arms around me. Then I sat back in the chair, but still grasping her hand.

"So you're okay?" I asked. She didn't respond, she was just staring at me with a weird half smile on her face.

"Chloe?" I started worrying. She still didn't say anything, just kept staring.

"Chloe!" She snapped out of it.

"What?"

"So you're okay?" I repeated, a little more strained with worry. She nodded, and I relaxed. Then she gasped, and stared straight into my eyes with a entranced look. She winced a couple times, before starting to cry again. I pulled her back into my arms, and let her cry on my shoulder as I rubbed her back. I heard the door open behind me, and felt Chloe look up and gasp. Then she screamed and fainted. I turned, and saw Diane Enright. I laid Chloe back on the bed and sat in front of her and growled.

"_**What do you want? Stay away from Chloe**_." It came out as a menacing growl, as I hoped it would, and she stepped back, seemingly scared. It looked like she was trying to say something.

"I..I..I just wanted...t..to see if she was alright." Her eyes were round with fear, and she was gripping the door like it was the only thing keeping her alive. I was about to say something more, when I felt Chloe move behind me. I turned, and froze. Her eyes were solid red again. And the red glow was coming back. The energy pulsed around her, and I snarled at Mrs. Enright.

"_**Get out now! You caused this!**_" she was shaking her head.

"I swear I didn't. But I do know what's happening, and I can help."

"_**NO!**_" I growled, and she jumped back. I glared at her.

"But I know what's wrong!"

"_**GET OUT!**_" I heard a gasp of pain, and turned back to Chloe. It was getting worse. Each jolt of energy that hit her, she gasped out in pain. It was hurting her. I turned back to the bitch at the door. She plucked up a burst of courage and stepped forward. I growled, but she stood her ground.

"I can help!"

"_**Why should I trust you?**_" She shook in fear, but answered strongly.

"Because I know how to make it stop. And I'm all you have," I scowled, and turned back to Chloe. The jolts had quickened, and it looked like they had gotten bigger. She had progressed to shrieks of pain for each jolt. Each cry felt like a dagger in my heart. I turned back to Diane.

"_**Do it now!**_" She nodded, and her eyes turned entirely blue. Her hands did too, and she was saying an incantation in another language I didn't understand. It was Latin, Greek, or Hebrew, the languages that were used by sorcerers and witches for incantations. But then a blue beam shot from her fingers, and hit Chloe square in the chest. The jolts abruptly stopped, and the red went away. But not without one last gasp of pain. I turned to Diane once I made sure Chloe was sleeping normally again.

"What's wrong with her? And why did it start when you walked in?" She seemed less scared of me now, though still wary.

"I thought it might happen like this, after what happened at the mall. I hoped it wouldn't but now I'm certain. She's a Taltheranian." I was confused.

"A what?"

"A Taltheranian. It was an ancient race of necromancers, that had powers described much like the ones Chloe displayed here and at the mall. The power probably never would have shown itself, just a recessive supernatural gene that needed another of the same gene to give the person those powers. But when her genetics were messed with, it could've activated that gene, giving her those types of powers. The reason no one ever knew was because she didn't know how to use them, so they were never shown, but that's why she could raise dead things so easily. The genetic manipulation didn't enhance her powers, it just activated dormant ones. The Taltheranians were a small but powerful race, and there powers were beyond belief. They could change the form of necromantic energy, and make it into matter, and use it on others. The red glow was Chloe doing just that. She made giant hands out of just energy. And when she summoned all those ghosts, she could have controlled them all at once, and done a lot of gruesome things with them, like making them possess people and force them to rip themselves apart with their own teeth. But, if Chloe doesn't learn how to control these powers, they could consume her."

I was silent. I didn't know what to say. People ripping themselves apart with their own teeth? Changing necromantic energy into matter? It didn't sound possible. And this was coming from a werewolf. Then I went cold. Her powers would consume her?

"What do you mean by consume her?"

"It will do exactly what they did here a few minutes ago, getting more drastic each time, until it kills her. Unless, of course, she learns to channel her power into something else."

"But why did it only show up now?" she thought for a minute.

"There are many possibilities. The most likely is that her Taltheranian powers needed a kick start to get going, and any kind over extreme emotional or physical stress would do it. But because the last to weeks have been pretty stressful for her, and nothing happened, it need to be something big. It was losing you that did it. Her pain started the reaction, and her anger and hatred towards me fueled her powers. Of course, unless my situation is explained, every time she sees me, she'll lapse into another power jolt coma, and it will start the process of killing her." I winced at the last sentence. I just couldn't think about that.

"What language did you use to fix it?" I wanted to make sure all the sorcerers and witches in the house knew it, so in case this happened while Diane wasn't there, Chloe would be okay.

"Oh, I was speaking in ancient Egyptian. That's where the Taltheranians lived in secret, and why the Egyptians have so many legends of gods having to do with death and the afterlife, because there was a secret race of all powerful necromancers living there with them."

"How long........ does she have to control her powers........ before she............." I couldn't bring myself to say 'dies'. It hurt too much. Diane was dead serious.

"Two weeks, max." My heart shattered. That could mean it could be less. Chloe started to stir. I sat down next to her and held her hand, and I heard Diane leave the room. She opened her eyes and looked at me.

"Derek?"

"Yeah?"

"What's wrong?" How was I supposed to tell her she only had two weeks to control her powers, or die? I kissed her, hoping this moment would go on forever, and that she'd never die.


	12. Not a Good Day

_**The Reckoning**_ By 331

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

Chloe's POV

Previously:

_I pulled Derek back in for another hug, and cried on his shoulder. He just rubbed my back, comforting me. I thought I heard someone open the door. I looked up, and I screamed. It was Diane Enright. And I fainted._

Everything was red. I couldn't open my eyes, but could feel everything that happened to my body. I felt myself filling with power, power I didn't, didn't need. It filled me all the way, and then kept going. I felt like I was being torn apart at the seams. Each jolt felt like it was tearing my skin off. Everywhere was pain. Like a thousand needles were moving in and out of my skin over and over again. I knew I could use this power, but I had no clue how, and the idea frightened me. That fear forbid me from doing anything, and my powers had taken control. Every time a jolt hit me, a new round of needles would attack my skin, and I would gasp in pain. And each time one jolt came, the next one would be worse. The jolts progressed from just needles to burning needles, and my gasps turned to shrieks. I just wanted to die, to relieve myself of this pain. My fingertips buzzed with energy, but instead of me being able to control them, the energy shot up my arms and pulsed through my body with every jolt. And the shrieks turned to screams. I felt something hard and numb pushing on my skull, and it got heavier with each jolt.

And suddenly, there was a white burning in my chest. It was worse than the others, but my mouth did not allow me to scream, and my arms and hands did not allow me to rip the skin off my chest. I had to internally writhe in silent agony ad the white burning turned to blue, and spread through out the rest of my body. I heard a strange muttering in a language I didn't know, and it came from everywhere. I screamed in my head because my body would not respond as the blue burning engulfed me and then―

Black. I didn't hurt, there weren't any more jolts of needles, it was just, black. I saw nothing, felt nothing. It was like I was dreaming about blackness. And then I woke up.

I opened my eyes, and saw Derek. He was staring at me with so much emotion, like he would never see me again and wanted to never let me go.

"Derek?"

"Yeah?" It looked like he was shaking.

"What's wrong?" I saw him look down and I couldn't see his face, and then he lunged forward and he kissed me with so much passion I had no choice but to kiss him back. It was the most aggressive kiss he'd ever given me, but it wasn't dirty or anything, just filled with so much love and feeling, that I never wanted it to stop. And neither did he. We kissed for at least ten minutes, with small gasps for breath in between. Finally, I pushed him back. He reluctantly stopped kissing me, but then lifted me up and sat on the bed, with me on his lap.

"Derek, what's going on?" He didn't answer, just put his face in my hair. I pulled away and turned to face him. He tried to pull me back, but I didn't let him.

"Derek! Why won't you tell me?" he looked down, and his hair fell in front of his face. And as I watched, a saw tears fall from behind his bangs. I froze.

"Derek...," he looked up at me. His eyes were red, and there were tears streaming down his face. He looked down again, but I could still see his eyes.

"you're going to die," he whispered. I didn't understand it.

"Wha..?"

"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE!" he screamed, and punched the wall. It was filled with despair and pain, and seeing him like this hurt me more than those words. I started crying too.

"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE, AND I CAN'T STOP IT! I'M SUPPOSED TO PROTECT YOU, AND I CAN'T DO _ANY__THING!_"he was leaning up against the wall, staring at the ceiling, tears streaming down his cheeks. I finally registered what he said. My heart stopped.

"I'm going to.....die?" my voice cracked, and I wrapped my arms around his torso. I cried into his chest, and he cried into my hair. I didn't want to die. It would mean leaving. Leaving Derek. And I couldn't do that. My brain wouldn't comprehend it.

"Don't leave me," I looked up at his words. The pain in his eyes broke my heart.

"Never."

…........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Narrator's POV (author's POV. Me!)

Everyone heard everything. they heard Chloe screaming at Diane, Chloe's shrieks of pain, Derek shouting at Diane to go away, then to make it stop, and after Diane came back, they heard Derek shout

"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE! YOU'RE GOING TO DIE, AND I CAN'T STOP IT! I'M SUPPOSED TO PROTECT YOU, AND I CAN'T DO _ANYTHING!_"Diane explained to everyone about Chloe's new powers, and how she needed to control them, or die. They left Chloe and Derek alone, knowing they needed to be with each other for a while. Tori stopped speaking, she still couldn't get over the fact that she was born because of a dead guy in a woman's body. And Simon left to go to his room, and no one knew what he was doing in there. Shane went outside to run, Joey, Damien, Lacie, Angie, and the twins were being treated by Mike and Sarah to heal their multiple wounds from the battle, Caleb hadn't been seen since they got back to the safe house, and the adults took Diane into one of the offices to be questioned. The mood wasn't happy. No one wanted Chloe to die, and everyone knew it was because of Diane, even if it wasn't her spirit, but it was her body that was at fault, for stabbing Derek, and awakening Chloe's powers. And no one trusted her either. And it seemed, that the despair coming from Chloe's room had enveloped the whole house, because no one could find anything good to take their minds off the impending fact that Chloe was going to die. By the time everyone had gone to sleep, no one had eaten, or really even spoke to each other. They were just too depressed. But tomorrow, Kit said they were going to find a way to stop Chloe from dying. And that's all that was said. Derek and Chloe never came out, they just slept in there, hugging each other. All in all, that day wasn't good.

_**Hey guys! I know this is kinda sucky, but I can't think of anything to write. Maybe I'll have another Taltheranian show up in one of the next chapters, but I'm still drawing a blank on how to do it. Please review and give me some ideas!**_


	13. Voting Time!

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Hey guys! Yes, I hate this too. Author's notes without a chapter are the bane of my existence. But I need to clarify something. And state something too. I'll go with the statement first. I will probably not get out a chapter this weekend (, no matter how much you beg and scream and send me encouraging PM's. Bcuz I have family coming over, and my parents will smite me if the find me on the computer with company here. So, you being my awesome readers (see? I'm not all disappointing today.), I need your opinions on something. I know you guys love both my stories, but what I want to know is which one is more of a priority right now. Its been hard for me to write bcuz I've been so busy, and when I do find time to write, I don't know which one to write, and while I try to write one I keep thinking about the other one and whether I should update it or stick to this one. Its been so confusing. So, I'm hoping you guys out there can help me out. Should I update _**The Reckoning by me**_ or _**Return to Normal?**_? And if _**Return to Normal?**_ is preferred, should I still continue writing _**The Reckoning by me**_? Or vice versa? PLZ VOTE! HELP ME! FOR THE DARKEST POWERS CHILDREN!

Here are the choices:

Just _**The Reckoning by me **_(stop writing _**RTN**_)

Just _**Return to Normal? **_(stop writing _**RBM**_)

Update_** RBM**_ first, and **_RTN_** later

Update _**RTN **_first, and**_ RBM _**later

_**RTN**_!****I don't care what you do with _**RBM**_!

_**RBM**_! I don't care what you do with **_RTN_**!

**UPDATE BOTH AT THE SAME TIME! I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!** (I seriously suggest not picking this one, bcuz it means a lot of work for me, but if you seriously think this way, its available)(though I would prefer to have to write only one chapter bcuz my school started wed this week, and I already I have crappy homework)

VOOOOTTTTTEEE! PLZ VOTE!

xoxoxo - _**331**_ a.k.a. Julie - oxoxox


	14. Power Practice

_**The Reckoning**_ By 331

This is what happens after the Awakening by Kelley Armstrong

I do not own anything and it all belongs to Kelley Armstrong. I am just using her characters and adding a few of my own.

**Chloe's POV**

Last night had been horrible. But we had gotten past the initial shock, and Andrew decided to call a house meeting.

"Okay, so we all know what needs to happen. We have to find a way to help Chloe control her powers in the next two weeks. Since we are pressed for time, we have to work as hard as possible to keep Chloe from dying. We are going to split into teams. The first team will research everything we can to find out anything about her new powers, how to control them, how they work, what's normal, what isn't, etc. The second team will be helping Chloe find a way to control her powers, and use them in a way that will not end up killing her. The last team will be figuring out what to do with Diane, and to see if we can get any information out of her about anything she learned in the EG that would help us or that we should be warned about. The teams are as following:

Research

Tori, Damien, Andrew, Anna, and the twins

Power Control

Arabelle, Lacie, Simon, Derek, and Angie

Diane

Mike, Caleb, Shane, Sarah, and Joey

"If we don't come up with anything helpful within a week, we are flying to Egypt to see if there are any Taltheranians we could talk to, or anyone there with any knowledge of them." We were all silent, and when no one added anything, Andrew broke us off into our groups. The researcher headed towards the library, Diane's group headed toward the offices to interrogate her, and Arabelle led our group outside towards the sports fields. Derek had clasped my hand tightly in his, and I squeezed it back in reassurance. I wasn't going to die, I was going to get through this, and we were going to be together forever. I was sure of it. Arabelle had us sit in a circle, with me in the middle. Derek came with me, and sat me on his lap. Arabelle looked like she wanted him elsewhere, but he growled, so her lips formed a tight line and she spread out a couple books and other objects to do with necromancy. There were some herbs and some candles, a lighter, some type of flower, a leather book, some kind of really old encyclopedia, and another amulet, except this one was on a silver chain, and it was green, with flecks of amber. She exhaled slowly, then looked up at me.

"Okay, Chloe, do you see anything you recognize?" I nodded.

"But I don't need any of them, I've always been able to raise or summon anything on my own." She nodded, and looked down at everything she had spread out, contemplating. She picked up the amulet and laid it in front of me. By reflex, I touched my fingers to my own amulet, fingering the ribbon, which was the only thing visible above my shirt. She saw my gesture and pulled back the amulet in surprise.

"What is that around your neck?" I pulled it out.

"It's my amulet, it's similar to that one, except the chain broke—" I was frozen in shock. My amulet had doubled in size since the last time I really looked at it, and had turned from an iridescent blue to a deep lavender. And if I examined it closely, there seemed to be a glow emanating from around the middle, like there was something dazzlingly bright trapped inside, encased in violet ice. Arabelle was staring at it, mesmerized.

"What?" I said. She blinked and shook her head.

"Nothing, I'm just surprised you already have one, and yet your powers are already so strong with it on. It's supposed to reduce them, the price you pay for being hidden from the majority of ghosts. If you're already this strong with it on, I shudder to think of what you could do with it off, if you got into one of those rages again." I flinched, remembering the other 'rage'. Derek rubbed his thumbs on my shoulders which helped subside the nervousness. The others we fidgeting around the circle, apparently just as nervous as I was. I sat up straighter in Derek's lap, and watched as Arabelle push aside the amulet, the candles, the lighter, and the herbs. She brought the two books and the flower out in front, and opened the leather one. She flipped through the pages, skimming for what she wanted. She frowned, and turned pages, and I became impatient. Angie and Lacie had started a tic-tac-toe game in the dirt, and Simon was constructing some sort of pile out of pebbles and sticks. Then, he began muttering under his breath and making hand motions, and soon enough, the pile he had erected started floating. He seemed deep in concentration (or at least constipated), and little beads of sweat were forming on the side of his forehead. He inhaled sharply, and the pebbles and sticks fell back to the earth. He refocused and kept trying, and that's when I got bored and looked away. Derek was watching me with a concerned expression, and I could only wonder what was going on inside his head. I fought off the urge to jump up and start pacing. Honestly, the waiting was killing me, but that doesn't mean I'm going to act like an impatient brat. I glance back over at Arabelle. She was still flipping through pages, searching. Then suddenly, she gasped, and everyone looked up, but then she frowned and resumed flipping. I sighed, and put my head in my hands. It was going to be a long day.

Arabelle finally set down the leather book, and I braced myself to listen to long paragraphs of important information, when she went and picked up the other book. I groaned and fell back on Derek who chuckled at me. I slapped him in the shoulder. He just chuckled again, so I ignored him, leaning on his chest, facing away, trying to find something interesting to focus on. Arabelle finally set down the book, and with a exasperated sigh, said

"I got nothing." We all gaped at her.

"WHAT?" I shrieked. Derek tensed, and I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

"I said, I got nothing. No-thing, nil, nada, zip, zero, zilch, diddly squat. What ever you want to call it, it means I got nothing." I was at a loss for words. Angie conked her head to the side.

"Why not?" she demanded. Arabelle frowned at her. Derek's eye's blazed.

"You're _supposed_ to be helping us teach Chloe how to control her powers, and _ you're_ the damn teacher! Why the fuck don't you have anything?" Arabelle looked taken aback.

"Maybe because Taltheranians were supposedly extinct, maybe because no one has seen one or talked to one or ever really heard of them in over 1000 years, maybe because all research done on them has been prized and rare, and only done or sought out by those who actually know about them and wanted to find out about an extinct race. The only times I ever heard about them was when I was with the Edison Group and—"

"_You_ were with the _Edison Group_?" Derek stood up quickly, causing me to face plant into the dirt. I pushed myself off the ground and spat grass out of my mouth, and stood up, giving Derek a _look_. Arabelle was dead serious, and Derek was glaring at her with a ferocity I would shudder to be in the line of fire of. He gave me a sorry-ish gesture with his shoulders, not breaking eye contact with Arabelle, and continued his glare match with her.

"Let me finish. The only times I ever heard about them was when I was with the Edison Group, and that's only because Davidoff researched it when we were setting up the first experiment involving necromancers. No, it wasn't Genesis II, or Genesis I, actually, it was one of the earlier experiments, purely to see what would happen if we messed with necromancer genes. Davidoff was all for drudging up those genes and creating new Taltheranians, but the Cabals wouldn't let him, they thought it was too dangerous that early on, and as more problems occurred, even with later on experiments, Davidoff gave up hope that they would ever procure a Taltheranian. Though, despite everything, they managed to produce one, even if it was unintentional." We were all paying attention now.

"I left as soon as the killing started, though I imagine they were killing long before I found out, but I just wasn't informed of this until they thought it was truly necessary. I told them they were crazy, that they'd end up creating supernaturals with no control at all, and would accidentally kill the lot of them, but they just kicked me to the curb, seeing as I had no power compared to them, and I refused to do my insignificant job. Apparently I wasn't worth killing. So I joined up with the others here, and played my part in running the resistance. And until you showed up, Chloe, I hadn't heard anything since the labs about Taltheranians."

"Then why the hell did you volunteer to teach Chloe?" The vein in Derek's forehead was pulsing, and it looked like it was going to explode. She rolled her eyes very teenagerly like at him.

"Hello? Do you see any other adult necromancers here with us? What did you expect, a Taltheranian was just going to fall out of the sky and teach Chloe to control her powers and everything would be peachy? Or maybe that I knew everything there is to know about Chloe's new powers and I'd take her under my wing and show her the tools of the trade? What planet are you from? FYI, I didn't volunteer, Kit said I should help and I'm trying! If you'd let me finish in the first place instead of making me spiel about EG we wouldn't have this problem!" We were all gaping at her. Except Derek, he was too busy trying to figure out the language of what should have come from a twelve year old.

"Aren't you supposed to be, like, an adult?" Lacie said. Arabelle rolled her eyes.

"What, I'm not allowed to talk like a regular person if I'm over 25? Sheesh, tough crowd. But not the point. We're going to have to figure out what Chloe can do first before I can help her in any way. Otherwise, we got nothing." Derek frowned, and I probably had a similar expression.

"If I didn't find out about my Taltheranian powers until I thought Derek was dead, what are we going to do? Stab him? Because there is no way in hell _that _is happening!" I practically shouted. But Arabelle shook her head.

"Any type of powers, once manifested, only need the supernatural to concentrate for them to work, regardless of what triggered them in the first place. Of course, you have to concentrate on the right thing. Try something." She had everyone else back up. But Derek just stood there, growling.

"I don't think this is such a good idea." Arabelle frowned.

"What else can we do? It's not like we have a manual full of instructions lying around." Derek's gaze hardened a bit.

"It's not safe. We don't know what will happen if she just starts fooling around with her powers. It doesn't feel right." I put my hand on his shoulder.

"I'll be fine Derek. We don't have any other options. If I'm to learn how to control my powers in the next 2 weeks, sitting around doing nothing won't help. At least let me try." his gazed softened a bit, but this was Derek. He's not that easy to break. He turned to me and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Chloe, listen to me. The last time you used these powers you summoned billions of ghosts and tortured them while killing a spirit inside a woman's body. Which caused you to be unconscious for almost 2 days. And then, you're powers started to consume you. Do you really think I'd let you risk dying when we have no idea how to do it safely?" His green eyes seemed to pierce my heart. But this was the only thing we had, and we were pressed for time.

"Derek," I looked straight into his eyes. "Do you think I don't know that? Under any other circumstances I would agree with you, but this is all we have, and I think its our best shot at _finding_ a way to do this safely. Just let me try." His glare lessened, and I knew I had won, but I also knew that next time it wouldn't be so easy, especially if something went wrong this time. He scowled, and walked over to where the others were standing. I took it as a cue to start trying. I turned to the stretch of grass in front of me.

So, what the hell was I supposed to do?

"Just use your senses, and concentrate on manifesting necromantic energy. It might be just like summoning, except the rest of us will be able to see it too. And you can actually use it as a weapon. You won't know if you don't try." I jumped. Arabelle. Mind reader. Right.

"Didn't you say you had nothing?" Derek was eying Arabelle with an untrusting gaze. We all looked skeptically at her. She shrugged.

"That's what I would do. But I'm just guessing. Its not actually having something, unless of course I'm right. But that has to be proven first." Derek scowled, while the others just turned back to me. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Focus. Okay. So what did I want to happen?

"Try making those hands again. And maybe pick something up. If you go out of control, Lacie knows how to stop you (Diane taught all the spellcasters this morning)." Again with the mind reading. I took another calming breath, and started concentrating on my hands. I felt a jolt and my eyes flew open. Nothing. Apparently it takes more than that. I could hear the breaths of the others, and their fidgeting. I closed my eyes again and resumed concentrating. This time, when I felt the jolt, I kept going. A warm feeling in the center of my palms was building, almost like I was putting my hands on top of a heater. It felt like there was some type of electric current pulsing slowly down from my shoulders, through my arms, to my hands. It also seemed to be slowly draining my energy, not by a lot, but enough to let me know that if I did too much I would pass out. I couldn't hear the others anymore, not even their anxious breathing (not that I could ever hear Derek any way). It was just me and the necromantic current surging through my arms. I felt the current begin to expand inside my body, excessively building in my head, hands, and chest. My hands felt bigger and heavier, but not in a bad way. I opened my eyes, and almost screamed.

Giant, red, pulsing hands made of energy had formed off of my arms, big enough to crush a truck. Then, I did scream, and I felt the energy current deteriorate, as I lost control, and with a gut wrenching amount of pain, the hands separated from my arms and blasted forward, exploding. But I was in to much pain to care. I looked down at my hands, which felt like my skin had just been peeled off. I couldn't tell, because they were covered in blood. The pain had me on my knees, cradling my hands on my lap, the blood soaking into my jeans.

"CHLOE!" Derek had come sprinting over, the others following closely behind. The trees nearby had lit on fire from the explosion, and Simon and Lacie were using water spells to put it out, while Angie was pulling the air away so the fire would lose its oxygen and die out. Derek pulled off his shirt, tore it into strips and started to tie them around my hands.

"Derek, you don―" He growled sharply, and continued wrapping my bloody hands in his now ruined shirt. I tried to get him to stop.

"But―"

"Chloe! Your hands are seriously damaged! We need to stop the bleeding!Just stop trying to be brave and let me help!" Arabelle nodded next to him.

"That looks really bad, we'll have to get Mike and Sarah to look at them." Derek glared up at her.

"This is why I didn't want her doing this. You're the adult, you're supposed to keep us safe, but instead, you got her skin peeled off!" Derek had finished bandaging my hands, and was standing, shouting at her. Arabelle's eyes were filled guilt, but it wasn't her fault.

"Derek! She didn't know this would happen!" He turned to look down at me. The look in his eyes scared me.

"Exactly."

Simon came up behind him.

"Bro, none of us knew that would happen. Its no one's fault Chloe's hands exploded. Stop blaming others for something no one could control!" Derek's eyes blazed, and Simon took a step back. Angie and Lacie were watching in silence.

"She knew doing anything with powers that unstable could be harmful, but she went on anyway. And I don't like it when people gamble with others' lives. Especially people I love."

_**Crack**!_

Derek's cheek was starting to turn red from the force of Arabelle's slap. Arabelle herself was the exact same shade, the fury hardly contained in her eyes. Her gaze slice right through him. And when she spoke, she was dead serious.

"I never gamble with others' lives. Don't you ever assume that I would carelessly put other people in danger without knowing the consequences! You let her try her powers too, and don't see anyone blaming you for her injury! Now stop acting like a baby and help Chloe back to the house so she can get her hands healed." Derek looked like a statue, permanently frozen in stone, the red mark on his cheek standing out, demanding attention. Arabelle walked off toward the house, not looking back, and the others followed suit. Watching them walk away, I couldn't contain my self any longer. I started crying. What was happening to us? Why was this happening to us?

Why did I have to cause everyone so much pain?

My tears to the ground, mixing with the blood already staining the grass. As I stared at it, I knew from then on, the rest of my life was never, ever going to be easy, ever again.

"Why?"

**Tori's POV**

I still couldn't get over the fact that my mother was a dead guy. Scientifically, Diane Enright was my mother, but in reality, my real mother was Samuel Lyle, and that disturbed me on so many levels that my entire being was crumbling from the inside out. I didn't know what to think anymore. And to top it all off, Simon was my biological half brother, Derek adopted half brother, and, Kit Bae was my father. My whole life was collapsing in on me, and I had no idea what to do.

When I woke up that morning, I was stilled dazed. No one ever told me how to cope when finding out your mother's a dead guy and your new family thinks you're a bitch. I dragged myself out of bed and threw on some sweats, and went downstairs for breakfast. Andrew called a meeting, and all I registered was that I'd be doing research on Talthe-whatevers. That was all right with me, losing myself on the computer would help me take my mind off things. I followed him, Anna, Damien, and the Twins to the offices somewhere in the middle of the house, and immediately I forgot my life crisis. I was in techie heaven! We were standing in a computer lab so modern, the closest one you could find like it would probably be at NASA or Area 51. That is, if Area 51 has a super high-tech lab (I'm not so sure, never been there). I squealed girlishly, and ran to the nearest computer. Dual monitors, three keyboards, and multiple other techie accessories I shall not name here **(A/N: I'm not really a techie(yet), so I'm just going with what I have)**. Andrew gave us instructions on what to look for, and we set to work. I pulled up myths and legends centered on ancient Egypt and death, and all I got were the basic gods stuff and some info about Yu-Gi-Oh season six **(A/N: They go to Egypt and back in time in Yami's memories and he's the Pharaoh and he doesn't share a body with Yugi anymore and they have to fight stuff. They also find out Yami's real name and that's how the beat the evil guy by sealing him away with his name (Atem/Atemu). I love it!)**.I broadened my search, Andrew directing me to sites where supernaturals posted information in code, and after a couple hours, we struck gold.

"I found something!" Andrew practically sprinted over, Anna and the twins on his heels.

"All I did was type in Taltheranian in Google! I can't believe it actually got me something!" Andrew just shushed me.

"Just read what it says." I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, okay. Taltheranians:

A mythical race said to have lived in Ancient Egypt that had the ability to control and transform necromantic energy into matter at will. They could also raise, speak to, and control the dead and were said to have lived in clans or cults, usually small, and were pacifists and only violent when defending their clan. Though few were said to have abused their powers, but not much is known on the subject. It is said that if one was to come in to Taltheranian powers, they would have to pass a 2 week period during which they would have to control their powers or die. If they survived, they would either join a cult, or choose to live on their own, usually as a medium to help ghosts through to the afterlife. Most that chose to live in a cult were born into one, and often were forced in once found to have the power, though many resisted and were killed. Taltheranians were treated like gods and high society, until the Romans took over, which is when they were persecuted for fear that they would overthrow the Roman pharaoh because they believed only Egyptians should rule over Egypt. After that, they went into hiding, since then there hasn't been any clear evidence that they exist, or ever had existed except for stories and hieroglyphics calling them gods. Though, in 1956, a man claimed to have stumbled upon a clan of people in Cairo who were making dead people come to life and glowing giants out of thin air. Bu before he could be interviewed further, he was brutality killed, though no one ever figured out how exactly all his skin was peeled off in one piece without the use of a knife and without causing any damage to the organs except that one ventricle from his heart was missing. No other claims have been heard since then, and all there is is a freakish murder and some stories and tomb carvings." I swiveled my chair away from the computer towards the others, and gave a cocky grin.

"I guess this means we're going to Cairo?"

**Diane's POV**

I was free. I was finally free. I still couldn't believe that I was finally in control of my own body. I flexed my fingers and my toes and felt like doing a cartwheel, but that probably would have been hard considering the circumstances. I was sitting in a makeshift interrogation room. Chained to a chair. I could hear the murmur of voices drifting from outside the door, the group of supernaturals who had hated my guts but were now just wary and confused. I still had no idea how the hell I was going to heal the wounds Lyle had inflicted using my body. Even thinking his name made me want to blow up something, and not even in the fun way. My plan was just to stick to the truth, and see where it took me from there. The only two things that really worried me, were Chloe's two weeks to live, and Tori. Tori, my daughter. God help me. There was no way I was ever going to repair her heart. Someday, way, _way _in the future, I might gain her trust, but I don't think I'll ever repair the damage Lyle caused her. I hoped that someday she would come to love me as a mother, but I doubted she would ever feel comfortable around me. I heard the lock click, and prepared myself to be interrogated. God, please help me.

**Hey guys! Sorry I'm late! as you can see, RBM won! But I'm still writing RTN! (even if you guys had said stop writing one of these, I probably wouldn't have unless most of you did, but only one guy said that, but I hope whoever it was reads the other one, because they seriously need a reality check.) I love writing and reading and getting reviews, and I hope you guys sens me a billion of them, because they're so much fun to read! I worked really hard, I hope you like the chapter! Read, Review, and Enjoy! (but mostly review) XD Love you guys! ~Julie~**


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